Personality profile of ultra-distance runners

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to determine selected personality characteristics of ultra-distance runners. More specifically, this study: (a) established the personality profile of an ultra-distance runner, (b) compared the personality characteristics of runners who finished in the first and last 33% of all selected races, (c) compared the personality characteristics of ultra-distance and recreational runners, and (d) compared the personality characteristics of ultra-distance runners to those of the general population. Two hundred forty-six participants in four ultra-distance races volunteered as subjects for the study. Seventy-six recreational runners used for the study were students enrolled in intermediate aerobic running activity courses at Texas A&M University during the 1992 spring semester. Statistical analysis indicated the following: (a) ultra-distance runners who finished in the first 33% of races were more inclined to experiment in life generally, and more tolerant of inconvenience and change; (b) ultra-distance runners who finished in the last 33% of races had strong control of their emotions and general behavior; (c) ultra-distance runners were more intelligent, more emotionally stable, more conscientious, more imaginative, more socially aware, more self-sufficient, and more compulsive than recreational runners; (d) recreational runners were more dominant, more enthusiastic, more suspicious, and more tense than ultra-distance runners; (e) ultra-distance runners were more dominant, more venturesome, more experimenting, more self-sufficient, and more tense than the general population; and (f) the general population was more social than ultra-distance runners.