I Ran 50 Miles in a Laboratory for Science (My Real VO₂ Max Revealed)

I signed up for a university study on sleep deprivation in ultrarunners… and it escalated quickly. First: ECG, bloods, VO₂ max and lactate testing. Then: a 12‑hour overnight treadmill run in a hot lab with three fans, soggy kit, and a stubborn goal—50 miles.

In this video you’ll see the full lab experience at Portsmouth University: VO₂ max with a mask-up ramp test, finger‑prick lactate every three minutes, carotid ultrasound for brain blood flow, HRV, balance and jump tests, plus repeated cognitive/executive function tasks before and after the run. You’ll also get my actual VO₂ max in ml/min (the real absolute number), how that differs from the “per‑kg” number you see on Garmin, and the precise points for lactate threshold vs OBLA (onset of blood lactate accumulation).

Through the night I battle heat, hydration, fatigue, and mind games—breaking the session into hourly blocks (10 min walk, 50 min run), cooling with cold-water dunks, and edging back from a grim halfway patch to a negative split. Did I make the 81 km? Watch to the end for the numbers and what surprised me most about “sleep deprivation” vs simply being wrecked from 11+ hours of running.

If you’re an ultrarunner and want to help with the study, contact details are [email protected] . Big thanks to the Sandy and the research team for letting me film.

Timestamps
00:00 Start
00:55 Vo2 Max Test
03:46 Cognitive Testing
08:01 Jumping Test
09:15 Start of 12 hour run
13:37 Midnight - 4 hours in
16:17 Half Way
16:55 8 Hours in
18:24 Two hours to go
22:40 Finishing
23:20 More Cognitive Tests
25:59 Bloods and Jumping

If you enjoyed this, please like, comment, and subscribe — it really helps the video get recommended. Runners: drop your VO₂ max and threshold numbers below and how you tested them!

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