Without luck and a good crew it won’t work!
During the Badwater Ultramarathon in the Death Valley in the USA the runners are exposed to extreme strains: Not only that the sportsmen must run at temperatures around 50 degrees Celsius, there is also the extraordinary long distance of 217 kilometers to be mastered and a difference in height of 2500 meters between the start and the finish. Running requires enormous efforts from the participants. Dr. Fernando Dimeo (35) runs marathons himself and he works as a physician at the institute for sports medicine on the “Freie” University of Berlin. He knows the problems, which occur with long-distance runs and he can give responses to some questions.

Can normal humans at all bear such large strains like the enormous heat, the extremely long distance and the large difference in height at all?

Normal humans can bear these strains only if they completed a sufficient training in advance. One must consider that these sportsmen are special athletes, which train daily at least for four hours. Only someone who has trained daily for several years, can survive these strains. However, a sufficient training alone is not enough. The correct food supply, much liquid, a good team and bit of luck are just as important.

But even extreme sportsmen have problems. The heat and the enormous strains for the body stress the human organism. Which difficulties occur espacially with this combination?

The most common problems are the strong tiredness, which can lead to lacks in concentration, the dehydrogenation, thus the loss of water by sweating, or the false liquid supply. Because of the immendse strain one loses much body fluid. And due to that loss of water and energy the muscles can malfunction and muscular strains, cramps and pullings occur.

Which consequences do the continuing physical load and the heat have for the muscles?

Long-distance runners often complain about pains in their bearing apparatus, in addition about irritations in the Achilles' tendon, blood blisters and the so-called “wolves”, that means irritations of the skin for instance in the shoulder caves or on their chest. Besides that there will be pains and inflammations around the area of the knee joint.

How can the runners protect themselves against these dangers?

Particularly with a correct preparation. They should get through a balanced gymnastic program in order to keep the musculature and the joints supple. The long runs in training lead on the one hand to muscle-shortenings and on the other hand to muscle attenuations. The contracting muscles, for example on the rear side of the thigh, must be stretched and the weakend muscles at the front of the leg should be worked out. Also the back musculature must be submitted to a regular training program. Normally the runners pay special attention to their gear.

The shoes should be specially adjusted to them. As for nutrition and liquid supply matters: Most energy can be drawn from carbohydrates, that can be found in rice and noodles. During the race the runners must nourish themselves roughage-low, otherwise flatulences threaten. Because of the enormous load the sportsmen will burn between 5000 and 10000 calories per day.

As energy suppliers fruits are alright, for example bananas, but not muesli and whole-meal bread. They should eat polished rice and noodles instead. Generally spoken, enough proteins and less fat are important. And as already mentioned, the technical support by a good team is of great importance. Without a crew, which motivates the sportsman correctly for example at the night, organizes meals and the surrounding field, no runner can stand this torture.