Victory in Deca one-per-day Swissultra 2023

Beat Knechtle finished first at Swissultra 2023 in Deca one-per-day in 164 hours, 39 minutes, and 54 seconds.

From 20.08. to 17.09.2023 a wide range of ultra triathlon distances is offered in the town of Buchs in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley (Switzerland).

The one-per-day variant involves completing a long-distance triathlon every day: 3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling and 42.2 km running. For the Deca it is ten days in a row. The start is always at 7 am; finish the following day at 3 am (20 hours time limit).

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Extreme sport event triathlon: The daily walk to one's limit

By Michael Wanger on rheintales.ch:

For many, a triathlon is an impossibility. For some, it is the challenge of a lifetime. Currently, 32 athletes from all over the world are competing in the Swissultra. A month-long sporting event where anything less than 1000 kilometers seems laughable.

It’s 8:00 a.m.

Beat Knechtle and Rait Ratasepp are still in the pool. Soon, they will reach length 38. Then a helper will signal them: 100 meters to go.

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Breaking the 400 marathon mark

As part of the Brazil Ultra Tri, Beat Knechtle has broken the barrier of 400 marathons. This was reason enough for Christian Marti, the statistician of the 100 Marathon Club Switzerland, to personally deliver gifts. In addition to the official certificate and the pennant for the achievement, there were 100 cm beavers for the last 100 marathons.

As the best Swiss, Christian Marti (71) has already run more than 540 marathons. Beat Knechtle is second behind him. The Indian Pandian Sivabalan is ahead of the two Swiss with over 660 marathons.

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Interview in "NZZ am Sonntag"

Christmas edition NZZ am Sonntag:

Physician Beat Knechtle is pushing boundaries in ultratriathlon. He is the first athlete in the world to complete more than 300 Ironman distances. In an interview, he explains how he manages to do this – and admits: “The doctor in me would say that what you are doing is not so smart.”

His tip: Avoid mental trainers, heart rate monitors and dietary supplements.

The interview can be found at the following link:

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The optimal weather for a marathon world record

The optimal ambient conditions for world record and world class performances at the Berlin Marathon The Berlin Marathon is the fastest marathon racetrack in the world and has recorded 11 world records (eight in men and three in women). The weather conditions can have an important influence on the term.Therefore, we have examined the influence of the environmental conditions (temperature, sunshine, precipitation, air pressure and cloud cover) on world records and elitates (winners, top-three and top ten).Marathon services of men and women at the Berlin Marathon between 1974 and 2019 were analyzed. The average world record marathon period in men was 2: 03: 52 ± 0: 01: 19 H: min: S and 2: 25: 05 ± 0: 08: 25 H: Min: S among women.Competitions with male starters were 44 times (middle winning time 2: 09: 48 ± 0: 09: 15 h: min: s) and competitions with female starters 41 times (middle winner period 02: 30: 35 ± 0: 19: 09 H:Min: s discharged. The world record performances were achieved at medium temperatures of 18.61 ± 2.59 ° C for men and 13.07 ± 4.01 ° C for women. The ideal environmental conditions for world record performance in men were temperatures of 18.61 ° C, sunny, mostly dry days with higher air pressure and small cloud cover.For women, the ideal conditions for world record performance temperatures of 13.07 ° C were low at low air pressure, but significantly more rain and without sunshine and with cloud cover. For elite services, the ideal temperatures in men at 17.36 ± 4.33 ° C and women at 17.93 ± 4.07 ° C, with little to no rain and moderate cloud cover and sunshine.In summary, the environmental conditions are different in world record performance between men and women, with women in bad weather (rain, cloud cover and without sunshine) world records achieve and men in good weather (sunny, mostly dry days with small cloud cover).

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Training and physique in runners of different performance classes

Discriminant Analysis of Anthropometric and Training Variables among Runners of Different Competitive Levels The purpose of this study was to investigate the multivariate profile of various types of Brazilian runners and identify the pattern of different types of runners than the ability of a runner to classify themselves. The sample included 1,235 Brazilian runners of both sexes (492 women; 743 men) with an average age of 37.94 ± 9.46 years. Individual characteristics were determined via an online questionnaire: gender, age, body size (M) and body mass (kg), socioeconomic status and training information (self-classification, time, motivation, running pace, frequency and training volume / week).A multivariate variance analysis was carried out by gender and the discriminant analysis was used to identify between running speed, training time, body mass index and training volume groups such as professional athletes, amateur athletes and recreational awards. For both sexes, the runpo was the variable that the groups discriminated better, followed by BMI and volume / week.The time is not a good indicator to distinguish the rotor types. For both sexes, semiprofessional runners were those who classify themselves themselves, with amateur runners having the highest classification error.

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