During constant-rate high-intensity (CRHI) exercise lasting longer than 3 min, ˙VO2has been reported to exceed ˙VO2maxmeasured with a traditional graded exercise test (GXT). This could be because˙VO2maxwas not achieved on the GXT or because the factors responsible for the slow-component rise in ˙VO2alter˙VO2max. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that the slow-component rise in ˙VO2measured during CRHI running leads to a total ˙VO2that exceeds ˙VO2maxmeasured during a running GXT. ˙VO2maxwas determined in eight highly trained individuals using data collected from five grade-incremented, treadmill-running GXT. Each subject demonstrated a definitive plateau of˙VO2as a function of exercise intensity. Three ˙VO2maxvalues based on different approaches for representing the ˙VO2maxplateau were obtained. Subjects also completed two exhaustive CRHI bouts of treadmill running lasting 7-13 min at speeds estimated from the ACSM equation to elicit an average of 99 ± 5% ˙VO2max. The mean(±SD) ˙VO2peakdetermined during the CRHI runs (4.17± 0.9 l·min-1) was not different from or less than the three ˙VO2maxvalues (4.19-4.32 ± 0.09 l·min-1). We conclude that in highly trained individuals, the slow-component rise in ˙VO2during CRHI treadmill running does not lead to a total ˙VO2that exceeds the ˙VO2maxmeasured during a running graded exercise test.