Motivation in ultra-marathon runners.

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 <0.05), life meaning (4.20±1.40 vs 4.03±1.44, P <0.05) and lower in the areas of weight concern (4.33±1.68 vs 4.64±1.65, P <0.01), personal goal achievement (5.09±1.25 vs 4.64±1.65, P <0.001) and self-esteem (4.44±1.36 vs 4.68±1.38, P <0.01), than runners in the control group. The number of completed ultra-marathons was negatively related to the personal goal achievement, competition and recognition scale. The level of training experience was negatively correlated with the personal goal achievement scale in all participants, and with the self-esteem scale in the control group. In summary, ultra-marathoners had different motivations compared to runners of shorter race distance.

Conclusions: These findings should be considered by sport psychologists and other professionals to develop performance-tailored interventions for ultra-marathoners.