The influence of 9 marathons completed in 9 days on injury incidence and selected musculoskeletal tests

Multi-day running events are increasingly popular however, research in these events is lacking and fails to consider the dynamic nature of musculoskeletal physiology. Twenty-three athletes completing a ten-day marathon event participated in the study. Proprioception, dynamic balance, knee valgus and flexibility were assessed the day before the event and after one, five and nine consecutive marathons. There were significant reductions in these measurements across the event and reductions were more apparent in the non-dominant side. Each runner suffered on average 4.2 injuries. Runners performed significantly worse in musculoskeletal measurements, particularly on the non-dominant side, as the competition progresses. Therefore, athletic trainers should design appropriate between-day recovery strategies during events based on with-in event data collection.