The sample included 29 healthy competitive male distance runners. Bilateral measurements were taken for selected variables of the talocalcaneal flexibility by means of a mechanical goniometer, and of the peak isokinetic knee strength on a Cybex II device. The frontal and horizontal plane motions of the lower limbs of the subjects were recorded by high speed filming and videotaping while they were running on a motor driven treadmill at their training pace under two conditions: with running shoes and barefoot. A detailed description of each runner's history was obtained and bilateral dominance characteristics were determined. Significant functional asymmetries were found for subtalar joint flexibility (eversion, inversion, and eversion/inversion ratio) and peak isokinetic knee strength (flexion, extension, total, and flexion/extension ratio). Significant kinematic asymmetries were revealed during the foot support phase in lower leg angle, rearfoot angle, mediolateral velocity of the foot, and in some temporal parameters. The two running conditions differed significantly only for the pretouchdown phase of support. Significant trends of association were identified between selected components of the lower limb functional and kinematical asymmetries which were characterized by consistent laterality patterns. Multivariate asymmetry components and running injury patterns were independent. Only asymmetries in foot pronation during barefoot running tended to significantly differentiate between runners grouped by injury incidence. The phenomenon of functional and kinematic asymmetries in runners is warranted.

Sport has become a major industry as well as a key cultural preoccupation in contemporary society. Cities are increasingly using major sporting events and activities to re-image themselves, promote urban development and fund economic growth and regeneration. Major sport events are often recognised for their ability to generate significant economic benefits for the host destination. The major difference between this study and other economic impact studies is that the event is tracked over a two-year period. This afforded the author the opportunity to compare and note the variations in the data over the two years. Initially, the study purports to analyse the economic impact of the Comrades Marathon on the City of Durban. A secondary objective is to demonstrate the value of such a major sporting event to the regional and provincial governments as well as the formal and informal businesses in the city. Durban like other key cities in the world is and will increasingly be confronted by two main and related challenges. Firstly, there is need to successfully compete in a universal economy characterised by increased competition and globalization. Secondly, there is need to eliminate poverty and address issues of inequality and marginalization. Thus, the Comrades Marathon, as a major sporting event, can be seen as a primary driver to create jobs and contribute to competitiveness. As stated the research was conducted over two years viz. 2004 and 2005 thus representing an "up" and a "down" run. The questionnaire method and interviews were employed for this study and were administered to accommodate the alternate runs. The questionnaire requested data on the age, gender, occupations, income levels, spending patterns and the types of activities that the population found attractive. The population consisted of foreign runners and supporters, runners and supporters that reside in other provinces of South Africa, stall holders at the Comrades Expo that is normally held over three days prior to the race, representatives of the sponsors of the event and vendors. The sample was selected randomly from the population. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with representatives from the hotel industry in Durban, the Acting-Chief Executive Officer and committee members of the Comrades Marathon Association and the Marketing Managers/Public Relations Officers of three major shopping malls located in Durban. Turco, Swart, Bob and Moodley (2003) reported that the leverage ratio that is public sector input against private sector response indicated that the 2001 Comrades Marathon together with other major sporting events held in the city were successful and contributed significantly to the Durban economy. The leverage ratio is illustrative of the amount of money that was accrued to the private sector with every Rand spend by the public sector. Consideration was given to the total revenue generated by peoples' average spending at the events and the total amount accruing to the accommodation industry. Cognisance must be taken that the leverage ratio does not consider overall spending in Durban as well as other general multipliers such as revenue generated from transport, other financial transactions, product suppliers, guided tours, established businesses and informal traders. The findings showed that the leverage ratio for 2004 was computed to be 1:216.38 that is for every Rand spent by the public sector on the event R216.38 was generated by the private sector. In addition, the leverage ratio for 2005 was computed to be 1:434.49 that is for every Rand spend by the public sector on the event R434.49 was generated by the private sector. Thus, the expenditure was considerably higher in 2005 with an upsurge of R31 819 272 that is an increase of 33%. The fundamental idea behind the economic impact of sporting events is that it injects a significant increase in the demand of goods and services into the economy. This effect is not simply the direct effect of consumer spending but also the indirect effects caused by the stimulus to the economic activities induced by the direct effects. / Thesis (M.Sport Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.

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Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Kinesiology and Health Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-159). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR29582

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Exercise Sciences, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MTech (Marketing))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010 / A total of R4.8 billion was spent on sports sponsorship in South Africa in 2008, while a remarkable increase in sports sponsorship indicates that research, which deals with studying effectiveness of sports sponsorship, is essential. Moreover, brand extension was considered as a means to assist brand revitalisation and revival; however, in order to render brand extension implementation successful proved another important aspect of this research. Therefore, this research answers the question: can marathon sponsorships help sponsors to achieve effective and successful brand extensions? This study applied quantitative methodology as its research design. A self-administered questionnaire was designed for the survey and quota sampling was implemented in the research. A sample of 122 athletes who ran the full marathon at the Weskus Marathon was collected at the venue where athletes collected their running numbers on 5th of March 2010 for the following day’s race. This process continued until the researcher had asked 122 athletes for their cooperation to complete the questionnaires. The responses indicated that marathon athletes agreed that: first, a qualified marathon enhances the sponsor's brand image; second, the sponsor's brand was visible at the previous event; third, I can recall the sponsor’s brand of the most recent marathon in which I participated (excluding current marathon); fourth, sponsoring the marathon enhanced my awareness of the sponsor's brand/product; and last, it is good to have the same sponsor sponsoring a marathon continuously. Conversely, the responses also illustrated that the marathon athletes were neutral towards the following research statements: firstly, participating in marathons that have high media coverage; then, I will buy a new product in addition to the brand, which sponsored the marathon; and finally, my experience of the marathon will influence my decision to buy a new product in addition to the brand, which sponsored the marathon. Hence, the research explored the hypothesis that marathon sponsorship can be utilized as an effective way to achieve brand extension. Furthermore, regarding brand extensions and marathon sponsorships, male athletes of the Afrikaner or English culture who use English as their home language, think that marathon sponsorships will be effective for brand extensions. Such athletes are normally around 41 to 50 years old, are professional, managerial and are involved in other work such as administrative, marketing, skilled craft, self employed and so on, and have a higher education – postgraduate diploma/degree, while their running years range from 3 to 5 years.

Title: Comparing hydration practices of long-distance runners during intended training, an intended event, and an actual event during COVID-19. Context: Prior studies on long-distance runners have yet to compare hydration practices intended in training to an actual event. Optimal hydration strategies and knowledge of EAH was assessed. Objective: The purpose of this research was to assess and compare the self-reported hydration practices of long-distance runners during an intended training run, an intended event, and during an event. Design: Cross-sectional online survey design Setting: 2020 Hyannis, Massachusetts Marathon; Connecticut trail races; online. Participants: There were 46 participants in the Hyannis, 26 participants in the Connecticut trail races, and 203 participants in the long-distance running studies. Main outcome Measure(s): Survey questions addressed hydration practices, including hydration strategies, and volumes consumed before and during a run. Additional data included demographics, training experience, sources of hydration information, and knowledge of EAH. Results: When comparing volumes consumed, higher correlations were found when comparing intended events in all three studies. In other words, runners intended to drink the same in an intended training run and an intended event. More variation was found when comparing intended volumes to actual volumes. All studies showed strong agreement in the selected hydration strategies between the scenarios and most were statistically significant. The “drinking to thirst hydration strategy”, was selected on average 17% of the time for Hyannis marathoners, 30% of the time for Connecticut trail runners, and 23% of the time for long-distance runners. This hydration strategy is recommended to decrease the risk of EAH in lieu of a personalized hydration plan. EAH awareness among runners was reported between 50-59% of the time in all studies. However, there was inconsistency in recognizing contributing and preventive EAH factors. Conclusion: There were differences in hydration practices when comparing an intended training run, an intended event, and an event. This indicates a need for ongoing education on hydration practices and EAH. If runners mimic appropriate hydration practices during training when running in an event, the risk of EAH may be decreased. The limitation of this research is the self-reported nature of historical data.

Plusieurs méthodes et techniques sont utilisées dans le domaine de l'entraînement et la préparation sportive afin de quantifier la charge d'entraînement et ainsi d'optimiser la performance des athlètes. Cependant, bien que plusieurs d'entre-elles soit utilisées couramment sur le terrain, très peu ont été validées scientifiquement. A l'aide du cortisol salivaire, nous avons validé divers outils de quantification de la charge d'entraînement chez des marathoniens en lien avec le stress physiologique imposé par l'exercice. Nos résultats démontrent tout d'abord que le cortisol salivaire semble être une mesure fiable et non-invasive pour quantifier le stress physiologique induit par l'exercice. De plus, les valeurs de ce dernier furent corrélées avec différents outils prédicteurs du stress physiologique lors de l'entraînement. Il serait particulièrement pertinent, dans un projet de recherche futur, de développer l'instrumentation nécessaire permettant l'utilisation du cortisol salivaire par les entraîneurs sur le terrain. Ceci permettant à ces derniers d'évaluer précisément la charge d'entraînement subie par leurs athlètes.

Participants were 20 (14 females and 6 males) first-time marathon runners registered for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in Chicago, IL on October 7th, 2013. Participants were recruited for the purpose of exploring the effects of a 4-week individualized imagery training program on mental toughness and flow and asked to complete a demographics survey, the Movement Imagery Questionnaire (MIQ), the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ), Short Flow States Scale-2 (Short FSS-2), Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ), and a Pre-Imagery Training Interview and then be divided into an experimental and control group (prior to running the marathon). Participants in the experimental group received a modified copy of a Chicago marathon training video and a tailored 10-15 minute imagery training session while participants in the control group received only the Chicago marathon training video. Next, participants ran in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and, after the race, met with the researcher to complete the SIQ, Short FSS-2, SMTQ, and a post-imagery interview. Several themes emerged concerning the runners' understanding of the marathon course, race concerns, race goals, and race strategies at pretest as well as both positive and negative experiences during the marathon and their methods for coping and using the imagery during the marathon (reported at posttest). The experimental group had a moderate positive correlation between the imagery subscales of cognitive general (CG) and motivational-general mastery (MG-M) and mental toughness (MT) (r(6) = .761 and r(6)= .685, p < .05 respectively). There was a moderate positive correlation between the imagery subscales of CG and MG-M and flow (r(6) = .719 and r(6) = .783, p < .05 respectively). This would indicate that individuals high in using imagery as a means to goal set as well as master the course tended to have high flow scores. Cognitive specific (CS), motivational specific (MS), and motivational-general arousal (MG-A) had a small, non-significant correlation with MT (r(6) = .492, r(6) = .321, r(6) = .341, p < .05) and a moderate relationship with flow (r(6) = .522, r(6) = .593, r(6) = .529, p < .05). There is a high positive relationship between flow and MT (r(6) = .906, p < .05), indicating that individuals who experienced high levels of flow also experienced high levels of MT. Control group participants had a moderate inverse relationship between CG and MT (r(4) = -.659, p < .05) and moderate positive relationships between CG, MS, and MG-A and flow (r(4) = .662, r(4) = .710, and r(4) = .552, p < .05 respectively) within control participants. For the control participants, flow and MT were not found to have a significant relationship (r(4) = .310, p < .05); these results are consistent with the control participants' imagery, flow, and MT scores suggesting that flow did not have any effect on MT. Overall, the tailored imagery script training was found to be helpful for both flow and mental toughness. Recommendations for future research should focus on developing a 6-week psychological skills training program for first time marathon runners and developing research that focuses on periodizing imagery to coincide with runners' marathon training programs. / Kinesiology

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