Iron plays a significant role in the oxygen supply.
This summer we accompany the marathon runner Paul Ramp during his preparations for his long distance run in Australia. He told us how the low iron levels were detected in his case:
"2016 started everything else but good. During the preparation for the Georgia Marathon in Atlanta (USA) I was diagnosed low iron levels. The symptoms are surely known to every athlete. Tiredness, short breath and loss in performance count among them. Luckily, today there are possibilities to compensate low iron levels with food supplements.
The effect after the intake quickly reflected in my run times. But more important was the regained joy in running and above all the pleasure to enjoy nature while running. So, I was prepared best for the next long distance run and could enjoy the run in Singapore besides 90% humidity and 40 °C outside temperature to the full. The absolute highlight was the Munich Marathon in spring, where I ran my personal minimum time of 3:20 hours."