Post-race sleep quantity did not increase, but the second night was more fragmented, most likely due to muscle soreness. In conclusion, participants needed 6 days for recovery after UTMB ® and younger runners seemed to recover faster than older ones.

Positive correlations were found between WASO and muscle soreness ( P < 0.001) and between TST and HI ( P < 0.05). TST was not modified by the race, but there was a WASO peak on the second night after. HI was higher than baseline until day 5 after the race ( P < 0.05) and younger athletes had a lower HI than older ones during the recovery period ( P < 0.001).

Hooper Index (HI) was used to assess recovery and sleep parameters (total sleep time, TST and wake after sleep onset, WASO) were monitored using a wrist-worn actigraph. Nineteen race finishers were tested daily, from 10 days before to 10 days after the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ® (UTMB ®). The main objectives were (1) to describe sleep parameters during the nights following an ultra-endurance event in amateur trail runners, (2) to evaluate the recovery kinetics, and (3) to assess the relationship between sleep parameters and recovery. The interaction between sleep and recovery is a fundamental issue for ultra-marathoners, especially after an ultra-trail, but literatures on this matter remains are scarce.

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