Correlates of running performance in middle school cross-country runners : an honors 499thesis

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship of body fatness (BF), aerobic and anaerobic ability on 3-km running performance in 7 (3male, 4 female) middle-school runners (13.7 ± 0.7 years). Running economy (RE) at 5, 6, and 7 mph and VO2i,,,a were measured during an exercise test on a treadmill. On another day, two 55-meter sprints and a 3-km run followed by a blood sample to determine blood lactate concentration (BL) were performed. The data were analyzed using simple and stepwise multiple regression. V02, HR, and RER at maximal exercise were 54.7 ± 6.1 ml/kg/min, 205.9 + 4.0 bpm, and 1.14 + 0.05, respectively. The average time for the 3-km run was 14.29 ± 1.23 min. Correlations were observed between the following variables and run time: BF (0.42), RE at 6 mph (-0.25), VO2 (-0.36), fractional utilization (FU) during the 3-km run (-0.67; p = 0.10), 55-meter rime (0.21), and BL (-0.39). At p