Hormonal responses to marathon running in non-elite athletes.

Abstract in brief

• The study investigated how hormones respond right after and one week after a marathon in trained middle-aged nonelite athletes, finding that stress hormones like cortisol and prolactin increased immediately post-race but normalized after a week, while testosterone levels temporarily dropped.
• Blood tests taken at different times showed specific hormonal patterns: cortisol and prolactin spiked after the race, but androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate did not change, and total testosterone decreased shortly after but returned to normal within a week.
• Overall, marathon running causes temporary hormonal shifts related to stress and recovery in nonelite athletes, highlighting how intense endurance exercise impacts hormone levels but these effects tend to resolve within a week.]