Eighty years later, Adolph’s conclusions about the impossibility of adapting to dehydration are still the dominant view. The other, more controversial idea is that runners and other endurance athletes might be able to adapt to dehydration through repeated exposure. The Gebrselassie ParadoxA key hint that it may be possible to adapt to dehydration comes from the apparent contradiction between lab studies and real-world performance by runners. ADVERTISEMENTAnother possible explanation is that the subjects in laboratory dehydration studies are different from Gebrselassie and other marathon runners—perhaps because the runners have gotten used to dealing with being dehydrated. A 2014 study put subjects through four one-hour dehydration runs to get them used to the feeling of dehydration.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 08, 2026 22:52 UTC