Tracking sleep in ultramarathon male runners before, during, and after a mountain race: Actigraphic evidence of sleep restriction.
Daniel NVS, da Cunha DT, Belli T, Esteves AM. · Sleep health · 2026
Objectives: This study aimed to analyze athletes' sleep before, during, and after a race using actigraphy.
Methods: We evaluated 15 male athletes (45.1 ± 10.5 years), who participated in Brazil 135 Ultramarathon (135 km: n = 4; 217 km: n = 11). Wristwatch actigraph measured sleep before (7 days), during, and after the race (7 days). Sleep data were available for 13 athletes.
Results: Actigraphy indicated short sleep duration and suboptimal sleep parameters throughout the pre- and post-race periods, since most slept less than 8 hours, had low sleep efficiency, and high Wake After Sleep Onset. Mean total sleep time during the race was 96.67 ± 88.71 minutes and was not correlated with finish time (P = .81; r = 0.10; 95% CI -0.59 to 0.90). Except for one athlete, all reported symptoms attributed to insufficient sleep during the race, such as sleepiness (n = 5), loss of balance (n = 4), and hallucinations (n = 4). Athletes woke up later after the race compared with pre-race timepoints (P
Conclusions: Ultramarathon runners exhibited short sleep duration, reduced sleep during competition, and later wake-up times afterward. Nonsignificant trends suggested increased sleep on pre-race night and greater total sleep time during the post-race week compared with the first post-race night, which may reflect delayed recovery of sleep following the event.