PSYCHOLOGIC CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ELITE DISTANCE RUNNER

The stress imposed during marathon competition is arduous, to say the least, and marathoners have previously been observed to possess unique anatomical and physiological characteristics. The unique biological nature of the marathoner is further outlined throughout this present volume. However, it has been noted by Costill 1 that “. . . many athletes appear to meet the anatomical and physiological prerequisites for the marathon, while only a select group of men achieve success in this demanding sport.” A preliminary study of the personality characteristics of marathoners reported earlier by Morgan and Costill * suggested that athletes from this particular subgroup display unique psychological profiles. For example, these marathoners were characterized by introversion, stability, and low anxiety levels. However, none of these variables were found to correlate significantly with marathon performance, and this lack of statistical significance was undoubtedly due in part to the homogeneity of the sample (nine males). As a matter of fact, aerobic power was not found to be correlated with performance either, and this also was related to the “problem” of homogeneity, since Costill et al.3 subsequently demonstrated that aerobic power and endurance performance are significantly correlated in heterogeneous groups. The study by Morgan and Costill should be replicated for several reasons. First of all, while the marathoners reported on were introverted, as measured by the Eysenck Personality Inventory, one member of the group who had previously won the Boston Marathon, scored very high on the extroversion measure. His extroversion score, as well as his overall psychological profile, was more like that of the world class wrestlers previously described by M ~ r g a n . ~ In other words, it would seem imperative that additional data be generated prior to making an attempt at presenting a psychological stereotype intended to characterize marathoners. It should be noted, however, that an extensive body of literature exists in the field of sport psychology suggesting that individual sport athletes (e.g., runners) are more introverted than team sport athletes, and also, noncontact athletes (e.g., runners) have typically been observed to be more introverted than contact athletes.5 Hence, the earlier findings of Morgan and Costill do fit with theoretical expectations to a certain degree. A second reason why their earlier findings should be viewed with caution, however, is that personality structure in sport may well differ as a function of ability level. Indeed, the recent work of Johnson and Morgan 6 involving successful and unsuccessful college athletes tested during the first week of their college careers reveals that