Motivation in ultra-marathon runners

Zbigniew Waśkiewicz,1,2 Pantelis T Nikolaidis,3,4 Aïna Chalabaev,5 Thomas Rosemann,6 Beat Knechtle6,7 1Department of Team Sports, Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education, Katowice, Poland; 2Department of Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation, Sechenov University, Moscow, Russia; 3Exercise Testing Laboratory, Hellenic Air Force Academy, Acharnes, Greece; 4Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Nikaia, Greece; 5UFR APS, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France; 6Medbase St. Gallen Am Vadianplatz, St. Gallen, Switzerland; 7Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland Background: In ultra-marathon running the proper motivation of the athlete is one of the milestones, not only during the races, but also during the practice sessions, which are long and very exhausting. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of sport experience (expressed as number of finishes in ultra-marathons) with motivation characteristics of ultra-marathon runners. Subjects and methods: The Motivation of Marathoners Scale examined the motivation of ultra-marathon runners compared to endurance runners of shorter distances (control group). Participants were 1,539 Polish runners, 382 women (24.7%) and 1,157 men (75.3%). Ultra-marathoners (N=425; 26.7%) finished at least one ultra-marathon, whereas the control group consisted of runners of shorter distances (N=1,114, 72.3%). Results: Ultra-marathoners had higher scores in affiliation (3.55±1.60 vs 3.34±1.62, P