A Framework for Understanding the Phenomenon of Non-Professional Ultra Endurance Sports
Tatjana Bill holds a PhD in Sport Science and Human Movement from the University of Lausanne. She obtained a Master´s degree in Business Administration from the University of Hamburg, Germany, with a specialization in Economic Policy, International Management and Marketing. She also holds a Master of Advanced Studies degree from AISTS (International Academy for Sport Science and Technology) in Lausanne. Tatjana is an elite long-distance triathlon coach with the German Triathlon Union (DTU), an ultra-trail runner, a 20-time Ironman triathlon finisher, and an executive coach. She joined the University of Lausanne as an external doctoral student and defended her dissertation based on publications on 20 April 2026 under the supervision of Dr. Roberta Antoni Philippe.
This dissertation examines the phenomenon of ultra-endurance (UE) sports and their growing popularity in Western societies. The vast majority of participants in UE sports (trail running, triathlon, cycling, open water swimming, etc.) are non-professional athletes, who combine this intensive hobby with full-time employment and family life. While their physiology, psychological traits, and motivations are well studied, a holistic socio-psychological perspective on the long UE journey is lacking, as is a theoretical model explaining the UE phenomenon at both societal and individual levels of experience. Furthermore, an important social component – athletes´ relationships – has been researched primarily from the athletes´ perspective, with limited attention to the experiences of their spouses and partners.
Tatjana Bill´s dissertation adopts a phenomenological stance to examine the socio-cultural-psychological phenomenon of UE sport through the lived experiences of athletes and their spouses. It is grounded in a three-level theoretical foundation and employs an integrated mixed-method approach: first, proposing a theoretical Framework explaining the long-term participation of non-professional athletes in UE sport based on phenomenological interviews with athletes; and subsequently refining and partially validating this Framework through a follow-up quantitative study with athletes and qualitative interviews with their spouses and partners. All three studies have been published and cited.
The main epistemological outcome of the research is the proposed Framework for Understanding the Phenomenon of Non-Professional Ultra Endurance Sports. This integrative model draws on psychological and sociological perspectives to explain UE participation holistically as a complex, temporal, paradoxical and multi-layered phenomenon characteristic of WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) societies. Its initial validation underscores both its theoretical relevance and practical utility.
The Framework demonstrates that athletes navigate a long and passionate journey of UE engagement. It fulfils their basic psychological needs as well as meta-needs, shapes personal identity, generates social distinction, and supports the existential search for meaning and purpose in WEIRD societies. The quality and duration of this journey are influenced by the type of passion athletes develop: obsessive passion is negatively correlated with happiness and often leads to early dropout and spousal conflicts, whereas harmonious passion tends to generate adaptive outcomes – both for athletes and their partners. Partners, in turn, continually negotiate the ambivalent effects of the athlete´s engagement and face the ever-present “share, support or separate” dilemma.
As a postmodern serious leisure, UE sport reflects the human need to construct meaning and a personal philosophy of life, as well as a desire to reconnect with nature. It can be
understood as a situated philosophy for a WEIRD world – a paradoxical refusal of ease and an escape from comfort into voluntarily embraced physical and emotional hardship. In this sense, UE sports are not merely feats of endurance but contemporary rituals of self-transcendence that, at their best, integrate body, mind, and environment in ways that money can´t buy.
When practiced harmoniously, UE sport can thus be positioned not only as a sport but as a contemporary philosophy of life – for those who practice it and those who study it. The proposed Framework for Understanding the Phenomenon of Non-Professional Ultra Endurance Sports can therefore serve both researchers and practitioners (e.g., coaches, sport psychologists, athletes, spouses, event organizers) and invites further development and validation. Moreover, the findings extend beyond UE sports, offering insights applicable to a wide range of passionate pursuits and serious leisure activities in contemporary society.