Runner's high study finds cannabis-like signaling molecules rise over extreme distances

A marathon, 100 kilometers (62 miles) or even 230 kilometers (143 miles) in a single effort: Anyone running such distances puts enormous strain on their body. At the same time, levels of the body's own cannabis-like signaling molecules rise significantly. Dr. Michael Siebers from the Institute of Forensic Psychiatry and Sex Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen and his team have, for the first time, tracked in greater detail how these so-called endocannabinoids develop over the course of an entire marathon and during extreme ultramarathon distances. The study has been published in BMC Medicine.

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