Fatigue and Recovery: a Comparison Between Trail and Marathon

Last updated: March 9, 2026
Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne
Overall Status: Terminated

Phase

N/A

Condition

Pain (Pediatric)

Treatment

Race: Simulated trail

Race: Simulated marathon

Race: Trail in nature

Clinical Study ID

NCT06282341
23CH132
  • Ages 18-55
  • All Genders
  • Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Summary

Road marathon is a famous running race known for hundreds of years. Trail running is an emerging running discipline which count new runners every year. Trail running and road marathon are two running endurance disciplines which differed by variation of elevation and nature of the terrain. While marathon is essentially run on flat roads, trail races are realized on steep paths (mountain, desert…) with an important variation of elevation. Neuromuscular, biomechanical and physiological consequences are different depending on the discipline, especially with a greater eccentric contribution in trail running. In spite of this characteristic, trail runners take part in several races longer than 40 km per year, while road runners participate in one to two marathons per year.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion

Inclusion Criteria:

Common for MARASIM, TRAILSIM and TRAILNAT:

  • Male or female

  • 18-55 years old

  • Endurance runners who run at least one running session of 20 km per week

  • Being able to run a marathon under 5 h or finishing a trail of 30 km during the last 3 years

  • Refrain from participating to a competition one month before the first visit andduring the duration of the study

  • To have a medical certificate of no contraindication of running practise incompetition

  • Registered with a social security scheme

  • Having given the written consent freely

Specific for the 3 groups :

  • Specialist of trail running (TRAILSIM and TRAILNAT)

  • Specialist of road running (MARASIM)

Exclusion

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects who present cardiac or articular chronic pathologies (example: repeatedsprain, patellar or joint problems)

  • Subjects who present chronic or central neurological pathologies

  • Subjects deprived of liberty or who should be legally deprived

  • Subjects who report to take forbidden products by the World Anti-Doping Agency

  • pregnant or breastfeeding woman

Study Design

Total Participants: 46
Treatment Group(s): 3
Primary Treatment: Race: Simulated trail
Phase:
Study Start date:
December 28, 2023
Estimated Completion Date:
December 17, 2025

Study Description

Some studies focused on fatigue and recovery following 30-to-40-km trail races or marathon but no direct comparison between both disciplines have been done yet. A direct comparison between marathon and trail would aim to better understand if the occurrence of fatigue is more important or if the recovery is longer in one of the two disciplines. The comparison is also a way to better understand mechanisms involved in fatigue and recovery following a trail and a marathon. Then, this research could be applied to improve specificity of training and prevent risk of injuries. This project aims to compare fatigue and recovery following a trail and a marathon.

Connect with a study center

  • Unités de Myologie et de Médecine du Sport

    Saint-Etienne, France 42055
    France

    Site Not Available

  • Unités de Myologie et de Médecine du Sport

    Saint-Étienne, 42055
    France

    Site Not Available

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