Pacing in a 94-year-old runner during a 6-hour run.

It is well known that elderly people up to 90 years of age are able to finish a marathon. We have no knowledge, however, how runners at the age of 90 years or older pace during a long run. In this case report, we describe the pacing of a 94-year-old man competing in a 6-hour run in order to prepare for a marathon at the age of 95 years in category M95. In the "6-Stunden-Lauf " held in Brugg, Switzerland, participants have to run as many laps of 0.934 km as possible on a completely flat circuit within 6 hours to achieve as many kilometers as possible. Before and after the competition we measured body weight, percentage of body fat, fat-free mass and percentage of body water using a bioelectrical impedance scale. On the day before the start, 24 hours after the finish and then every 24 hours for the following 4 days, capillary blood samples at a fingertip were drawn to determine hemoglobin, hematocrit, leukocytes, platelets, C-reactive protein, creatine kinase, creatinine and potassium and sodium. The runner achieved 26 laps during the 6 hours, equal to 24.304 km. Lap times increased continuously and running speed decreased nearly linearly. A large main effect of time point (hours) of the race on running speed was observed (