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Abstract

In literature, age-related changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and endurance performance are questioned due to potential confounding effects from modifications in exercise training. World-class master athletes serve as exceptional models for understanding high-level physical training impact in older age.

PURPOSE: To examine physiological and performance profiles of a male 81-year-old master runner who in 2025 set a new 80+ world record in the 50-km race (4h47m39s, 10.5 km·h-1).

METHODS: Two weeks after the new world record, maximal O2 uptake (V̇O2max), the fractional utilization of V̇O2max (lactate threshold - LT) and running economy (RE) were assessed during incremental running tests. Gas exchange by metabolic cart, cardiac output by transthoracic bioimpedance, and fractional O2 extraction of vastus lateralis (VL) muscle by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) were collected during maximal cycling test. Hemoglobin concentration ([Hb]) was measured from venous blood. Whole-body O2 diffusion capacity was calculated by the Helsinki O2 Pathway Tool. In vivo VL muscle oxidative capacity and relative resistance to O2 diffusion were estimated using NIRS during repeated transient arterial occlusions in well-oxygenated (kHIGH) and low O2 availability (kLOW) conditions.

RESULTS: V̇O2max was 52.8 ml·kg-1·min-1, and LT was attained at 94% V̇O2max (11.7 km·h-1). RE was 237.5 ml·kg-1·km-1. Cycling V̇O2peak was 2.510 L·min-1, Q̇peak was 15.3 L·min-1, and arterial-venous O2 difference was 16.4 ml·dl-1. Since [Hb] was 16.1 g·dl-1, resulting in an arterial O2 concentration of 21.4 ml·dl-1, NIRS data confirmed fractional O2 extraction around 75%. Whole-body diffusion capacity was 75.3 ml·min-1·mmHg-1. kHIGH was 4.67 min-1 and kLOW was 4.59 min-1, suggesting high oxidative and muscle O2 diffusing capacity.

CONCLUSION: In our master runner athlete, the exceptional endurance performance was associated to well preserved V̇O2max, the highest recorded in octogenarians and equivalent to the 70th percentile for healthy males aged 20-30, and high fractional utilization of V̇O2max, while running economy was comparable to those of recreational runners. Lifelong moderate intensity endurance training seems to have beneficial effects on the final steps of the oxygen cascade more than on cardiac function.

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