Morphological and Postural Characteristics of Marathon Runners: A Large-Scale Field Study from the Gallipoli Marathon

This study was conducted to examine the morphological characteristics of marathon athletes according to foot biomechanics, age group and regular exercise status.Runners who participated in the Gallipoli Marathon organized in 2024 were included in the study.In this context, 571 (300 male, 271 female) marathon runners aged 18 and over participated in the study.A mixed research design was used in the study.In this context, morphological measurements and foot posture of the runners were analyzed.SPSS 25 program was used for data analysis.The normality test of the data was performed with Skewness-Kurtosis values.In the research findings, no significant difference was found in morphological characteristics according to foot posture status (p>0.05).Significant differences were found in body mass index (BMI), fat percentage (Fat%), fat mass (Fat Mass), fat free mass (FFM), total body mass (TBM), Staheli Arch Index (p<0.05), while no significant difference was found in basal metabolic rate (BMR) (p>0.05).According to age groups, significant differences were found in BMI, Fat%, Fat Mass, FFM, CPC, Staheli Arch Index (p<0.05), while no difference was found in basal metabolic rate (p>0.05).As a result of the research, it was seen that regular exercise and age group were effective in the morphological characteristics of marathon runners, but flat feet were not effective.