doi:10.1080/02640414.2021.1986276engCalleja Romero A.Vicente Rodríguez G.Garatachea Vallejo, N.Acute effects of long-distance races on heart rate variability and arterial stiffness: A systematic review and meta-analysisART-2022-126281This study systematically reviewed and quantified the effects of running a long-distance race (LDR) on heart rate variability (HRV) and arterial stiffness (AS). All types of races of a distance equal to or greater than a marathon (=42.2 km) were included. A total of 2, 220 articles were identified, 52 were included in the qualitative analysis, and 48 were meta-analysed. The standardised mean difference pre- and post-race of various time-domain and frequency-domain indices of HRV, mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) was calculated. Regarding HRV, there was a significant decrease in most of the variables considered as markers of parasympathetic activity, indicating a shift of autonomic balance towards a reduced vagal tone. Regarding vascular variables, there was a significant drop in blood pressure and reduced AS. In conclusion, running an LDR seems to have a considerable acute effect on the autonomic nervous system, haemodynamics, and vascular properties. The observed effects could be categorised within the expected acute responses to long-lasting, strenuous exercise. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.2022http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/12102710.1080/02640414.2021.1986276http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/121027oai:zaguan.unizar.es:121027Journal of Sports Sciences 40, 3 (2022)by-nc-ndhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess