Transitioning through injury: A phenomenological Approach for Ultra-Runners

Abstract

Ultra-running is an endurance sport requiring athletes to run in events exceeding the marathon distance of 42.2km. Event distances range from 50km to 100km or 100 miles, some even extending for hundreds of kilometres over many days. The aim of this thesis was to understand and explore the embodied lived and living experiences of ultra-runners who had experienced injury, providing unique insights and knowledge about the intersection between corporeal subjectivity and the various discourses that these athletes resist and submit to. Existing literature about how ultra-runners bodies are discursively produced was synthesised and (re)positioned around an embodiment framework, providing a unique theory of injury embodiment for ultra-runners (Chapter 2). A qualitative meta synthesis was then conducted, involving a hermeneutic analysis of ten interview studies using meta-ethnography (Chapter 3). Finally, eight in depth semi-structured interviews were conducted, along with eight detailed body maps co-created with ultra-runners who had recently been injured. Plot lines were woven through the visual and textual material, capturing stories of body-self transformation, the body-as-machine and the ageing body (Chapter 4). Findings demonstrated the limitations of narrative inquiry in providing access to embodied experience, and the benefits of using arts-based methods of inquiry to enable a deeper and richer exploration of multi-layered embodied experience. The research in this thesis demonstrated how unique arts based methods of qualitative inquiry can provide a deeper understanding of the lived and living experiences of ultra-runners. Finally, the findings provide an important contribution to the existing research by deepening our understanding of how injury has the potential to unlock past pain and traumas for athletes. Further research is needed to expand these findings and explore the experiences of a more diverse population of athletes.