Fatigue and Recovery: a Comparison Between Trail and Marathon

NCT06282341 | Terminated

• 1 other identifier: 23CH132
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 46
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Road marathon is a famous running race known for hundreds of years. Trail running is an emerging running discipline which count new runners every year. Trail running and road marathon are two running endurance disciplines which differed by variation of elevation and nature of the terrain. While marathon is essentially run on flat roads, trail races are realized on steep paths (mountain, desert…) with an important variation of elevation. Neuromuscular, biomechanical and physiological consequences are different depending on the discipline, especially with a greater eccentric contribution in trail running. In spite of this characteristic, trail runners take part in several races longer than 40 km per year, while road runners participate in one to two marathons per year.

Conditions

Healthy

Keywords

Running; Marathon; Trail; Fatigue

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in knee extensors maximal isometric torque output

  The primary outcome will be changed (in % of baseline value) of the maximal voluntary torque (in Nm) produced by the knee extensors, measured at D0 (= day of the race) with an isometric knee dynamometer (ARS dynamometry, SP2, Ltd., Ljubljana, Slovenia), before (baseline value = 30 minutes before the race) and at the end (15 minutes after the race) of a marathon or a trail (depending on the group)

  Day 0 (day of the race) baseline value = 30 minutes before the race and 15 minutes after the race

Secondary Outcomes (19)

• Change in plantar flexor maximal isometric torque output

  Day 0 (day of the race) baseline value = 30 minutes before the race and 15 minutes after the race, Days 1, 2, 7

• Recovery of quadriceps maximal isometric torque output the month after the race

  Day 0 (day of the race) baseline value = 30 minutes before the race, (Day 1 (= 24 hours after the end of the race) , Day 2 (= 48 hours after the end of the race), Day 7 (= 7 days after the end of the race).

• Voluntary activation level

  D0 (day of the race) baseline value = 30 min before the race, in the middle of the race (except for the trail in the nature) and 15 min after the race;D1 = 24h after the end of the race , D2 = 48h after the end of the race, D7 = 7 days after the end

• Force assessed in dynamic

  Day 0 15 minutes before the race, after the marathon or trail ( 1 hour after the end), and during recovery (Day 1 (= 24 hours after the end of the race) , Day 2 (= 48 hours after the end of the race), Day 7 (= 7 days after the end of the race).

• Velocity assessed in dynamic

  Day 0 15 minutes before the race, after the marathon or trail ( 1 hour after the end), and during recovery (Day 1 (= 24 hours after the end of the race) , Day 2 (= 48 hours after the end of the race), Day 7 (= 7 days after the end of the race).

Study Arms (3)

MARASIM

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

During visit 2, road runners will take part in a simulated marathon race on a treadmill.

Other: Race: Simulated marathon

TRAILSIM

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

During visit 2, trail runners will take part in a simulated trail race on a treadmill.

Other: Race: Simulated trail

TRAILNAT

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

During visit 2, trail runners will take part in a real trail race in the nature.

Other: Race: Trail in nature

Interventions

Race: Simulated marathon OTHER

Participants will take part in a race: simulated marathon. Before, during, immediately after and the month after the race, neuromuscular, physiological and biomechanical assessments will take place.

MARASIM

Race: Simulated trail OTHER

Participants will take part in a race: simulated trail. Before, during, immediately after and the month after the race, neuromuscular, physiological and biomechanical assessments will take place.

TRAILSIM

Race: Trail in nature OTHER

Participants will take part in a race: trail in nature. Before, during, immediately after and the month after the race, neuromuscular, physiological and biomechanical assessments will take place.

TRAILNAT

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 55 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Common for MARASIM, TRAILSIM and TRAILNAT:
• Male or female
• years old
• Endurance runners who run at least one running session of 20 km per week
• Being able to run a marathon under 5 h or finishing a trail of 30 km during the last 3 years
• Refrain from participating to a competition one month before the first visit and during the duration of the study
• To have a medical certificate of no contraindication of running practise in competition
• Registered with a social security scheme
• Having given the written consent freely
• Specific for the 3 groups :
• Specialist of trail running (TRAILSIM and TRAILNAT)
• Specialist of road running (MARASIM)

You may not qualify if:

• Subjects who present cardiac or articular chronic pathologies (example: repeated sprain, patellar or joint problems)
• Subjects who present chronic or central neurological pathologies
• Subjects deprived of liberty or who should be legally deprived
• Subjects who report to take forbidden products by the World Anti-Doping Agency
• pregnant or breastfeeding woman

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne: lead

Study Sites (1)

Unités de Myologie et de Médecine du Sport

Saint-Etienne, France, 42055, France

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Fatigue

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Leonard FEASSON, MD PhD

  CHU SAINT-ETIENNE

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SCREENING
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Prospective study on healthy volunteers, comparing the neurophysiological, physiological and biomechanical effects at the end of a marathon compared with an equivalent effort trail in the open air, or simulated on a treadmill, in runners specialising in each of the 2 disciplines

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 23, 2023
• First Posted: February 28, 2024
• Study Start: December 28, 2023
• Primary Completion: December 3, 2025
• Study Completion: December 17, 2025
• Last Updated: March 11, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

FR (1)