Changes of Mood and Cognitive Performance before and after a 100 km Nighttime Ultramarathon Run Ultramarathons become an increasingly popular endurance sport.Year after year, the requirements for the skills and the endurance of the athletes rise. Ultramarathons especially burden the psychological functioning of athletes. In this study, relations between participation in a nocturnal ultramarathone and changes in mood and cognitive functions were examined. The study included 20 experienced runners aged 26 to 57 years with experience.There were 18 men and 2 women. The mood states were measured twice, just before the start of the run and shortly after crossing the finish line, using the Polish version of the UMACL UWist Mood Adjective Checklist of Mathews, Chamberlain and Jones. To assess the cognitive functions, the Stroop Color and Word Test and the Subtest “Prevralation Span” of the Changer Adult Intelligence Scale were used.
We observed statistically significant mood fluctuations of the runners: the tense excitement associated with the stress experienced was significantly higher before the barrel than immediately after the aim.In addition, we observed an improvement of the cognitive functions after completion of 100 km. The whole work can be found under https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/22/8400