Plantar Pressures During Long Distance Running: An Investigation of 10 Marathon Runners

• Main Author: Erik Hohmann, Peter Reaburn, Kevin Tetsworth, Andreas Imhoff
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Uludag 2016-06-01
• Series: Journal of Sports Science and Medicine
• Subjects: Marathon running; in-shoe pressure insoles; plantar pressure; foot dominance
• Online Access: http://www.jssm.org/researchjssm-15-254.xml.xml

The objective of this study was to record plantar pressures using an in-shoe measuring system before, during, and after a marathon run in ten experienced long-distance runners with a mean age of 37.7 ± 11.5 years. Peak and mean plantar pressures were recorded before, after, and every three km during a marathon race. There were no significant changes over time in peak and mean plantar pressures for either the dominant or non-dominant foot. There were significant between foot peak and mean plantar pressure differences for the total foot (p = 0.0001), forefoot (p = 0.0001), midfoot (p = 0.02 resp. p = 0.006), hindfoot (p = 0.0001), first ray (p = 0.01 resp. p = 0.0001) and MTP (p = 0.05 resp. p = 0.0001). Long-distance runners do not demonstrate significant changes in mean or peak plantar foot pressures over the distance of a marathon race. However, athletes consistently favoured their dominant extremity, applying significantly higher plantar pressures through their dominant foot over the entire marathon distance.