Somatotype Role and Performance in Ultra Trail Runners

The aim of this study is to compare the somatotype of male running Ultra-trail race at different distances and to evaluate the race performance relationship. A total of 44 runners, average of age 45.64 ± 9.16 years; average of height 175.84 ± 6.18 cm; average of body weight 75.36 ± 7.46 kg, who ran distances of 13 km (n= 6), 30 km (n= 19), 66 km (n= 14) and 100 km (n= 5), participated voluntarily in the study. Heath Carter method was used to determine the somatotypes of the runners. The running performance times were taken from the race results section on the organization s website. One-way ANOVA test was used to compare the running groups, and the Pearson correlation test was used for correlation analysis (p 0.05). As a result, there was a significant difference in endomorph (p = 0.000) and mesomorph (p = 0.035) of the groups. Significant differences were observed between the endomorph of 13 km runners compared with 30 km (p = 0.003), 66 km (p = 0.002) and 100 km (p = 0.005) runners. It was found that those who run 13 km had more mass than those who run 30, 60 and 100 km, and as the distance increased, the endomorph and mesomorph values decreased, and the long-distance running athletes had a more linear physical structure. In Ultra Trail runs the somatotype differs according to the distance, and it can be said that the somatotype mesomorphic-ectomorph as the performance time and distance increases.