News/Elites

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

It’s been a rough summer for T&F fans, especially sprint fans. First, the news in June that Veronica Campbell-Brown and Yohan Blake failed tests. Two of Jamaica’s three most popular athletes busted. What could be bigger than that? How about what we got about a month later? Tyson Gay, Asafa Powell, Nesta Carter, Sherone Simpson and a so far unnamed 4th Jamaican sprinter.

I’m a little behind the story because I was out camping and barely checking news when this weekend’s news broke. I’ve been trying to figure out what to write about this story or whether I should just let it go. Obviously, I decided not to let it go.

Instead, after all the discussion about how T&F is going to die because of this and counter arguments explaining why T&F is not going to die, largely based on the fact that the Tour de France didn’t die because of far more severe revelations of widespread drug use, I’d like to explain why I’m going to continue to be a T&F fan. I’m going to try to keep it short and to the point.

First, this doesn’t change the equation. Ben Johnson. Marion Jones. Justin Gatlin. Those are just three high profile names. The list is almost endless. Any T&F fan who has been paying attention to the sport should not have been surprised by the news of the past month. When I heard this past weekend’s news, I honestly didn’t flinch. Even though Tyson Gay was the type of guy who would not raise suspicion with his personality, the signs were there. A past training partner had been caught doping. His coach doesn’t have a squeaky clean record. He came back from very difficult injuries and, at an age where most sprinters are in decline, has been having a stellar year. None of these prove guilt but they create a situation where one shouldn’t be surprised if the worst is confirmed, as it now has been. As difficult as it can be to be this cynical and as much as I want to believe in everyone’s innocence, it’s just a fact of life now. Is there any professional athlete who, if you saw a headline saying that athlete has tested positive, you would be truly shocked? This leads to my second point…

The bottom line is all sports are dirty. If you don’t believe drugs are a problem in your favorite sport, you have your head in the sand. Drugs exist in every sport. In any pursuit, some people are going to try to cheat. In pursuits where cheaters don’t get caught, the cheaters will take over the pursuit and force honest competitors to the second tier. This happens in business, politics, every walk of life. In sports, the ones where you don’t hear about drugs are actually the most drug riddled. Drug testing is so lax or even nonexistant that anybody can cheat with impunity. T&F is not one of these sports. While exposing drug cheats may look bad, at least you’re doing something to make it harder to cheat. This is the angle T&F has taken, at least in some countries like, as we see this year, Jamaica and the United States. So this doesn’t change the equation for me. T&F is no more dirty than any other sport. As a fan of sports in general, why would this change my interest in T&F?

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

I know everyone is writing about this and I have no doubt some are far more eloquently than I will. Still, I can’t help but add my own thoughts.

Yesterday’s events at Boston have shaken the running community. There is no denying that. Never, as far as I can recall, has an act of terror so directly attacked the distance running community. There have been acts of terror targeting the Olympics and that, obviously, affects the running community but they weren’t directly targeted at a running event. They were targeted at an event that running is a part of. On top of that, this wasn’t an attack on just a running event. It was an attack on the longest-running annual marathon in the world. It was an attack on possibly the most famous marathon in the world (some might quibble with this but it is definitely among the top two or three).

At the same time, runners in general have interminable spirits. We don’t just pack it in when something goes wrong. Individually, we overcome and return from injuries. We come back from bad races with good races. When we fall down 9 times, we get up 10 times. Runners seem to be hardwired for that. Actually, I just think it’s a process of natural selection. Runners fall down. Those who don’t get back up don’t remain runners.

This time, it’s not an individual battle we have to overcome but an attack on our community as a whole. True, the attack probably wasn’t targeted at the running community as much as it was targeted at a high profile event in a major US city but the chosen target was a running event and, as such, the attacker picked a fight with the running community. I have no doubt that we, as a community, will get up again. That’s what we do individually and that’s what we will do as a community.

The individuals affected by this will have a long road back. By the latest count I’ve heard, three families are paying the ultimate sacrifice. Many others are suffering great loss themselves and have long roads to recovery. I have no doubt the running community will rally around all of those who are suffering physical and emotional scars that many of us can’t imagine. We may not be able to do everything for them but we will do all we can and we will not forget about them. They are now a part of our sport’s history.

In the meantime, those of us with less severe scars will come back. In a way, our sport has lost some of its innocence. Starting with London this coming Sunday, security at major events is never going to be the same again. That said, we will not give up. We will not give in. I fully plan to be out racing this Saturday and, in my own way, remembering those who have been so seriously affected by the events of yesterday and celebrating the resiliency of not just the participants of our great sport but of our great sport itself.

In the end, we will follow the lead of Bill Iffrig who, after being knocked down by the explosion, got back up and crossed the finish line.

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

I’m still catching up myself on what is going on in Boston right now. It appears two bombs detonated near the finish line. Initial pictures I’ve seen are not looking good. I won’t post pictures here for those who don’t want to see them. If you do want to see what seems to be the most commonly used photo, see the link below:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/15/two-explosions-boston-marathon/

I’ll update here as I’m able and as I get updates. Mixed messages now but it sounds like runners are being rerouted away from the finish line. If anyone has more details or finds updates before I post them, please don’t hesitate to update in the comments. I’ll be doing the same.

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

This Wall Street Journal article prompted a lot of discussion yesterday about whether or not our sport has a new doping problem in the form of thyroid medication.

It’s always tough when medication for a genuine medical condition can also be a performance enhancing medication, as some people think this thyroid medication could. As I began reading this, I instantly thought of the fact that asthma seems to stricken track and field athletes at higher rates than it occurs in the general population. Anti-doping agencies allow inhaled corticosteroids for athletes suffering asthma with a "Therapeutic Use Exception" (TUE), which basically means they are granted permission to use a normally prohibited drug due to a medical condition that requires the drug as a part of treatment. There is no doubt that some of the athletes do have asthma and need the corticosteroid. There is no doubt that others are skirting the rules in order to use a performance enhancing substance.

I get the sense that this is the next generation of that issue. As of now, the thyroid medications being used are NOT banned substances. However, should they be banned? Typically, the drug cheats are ahead of the curve in figuring out what works and what doesn’t. It would not surprise me at all if, in the near future, we discover that these drugs are in fact performance enhancing in otherwise healthy athletes.

The question is what happens when this occurs? There are certainly some athletes who truly have thyroid conditions and require the medication to function normally so I’m certain a TUE will exist for these drugs. It already appears elite athletes are suffering from these thyroid conditions at far higher rates than the general population. If this is found to be performance enhancing, what will be the requirement of proof that you need this? Will TUEs for thyroid conditions become popular?

One of my favorite sports science bloggers has already written about this and I generally agree with him. I think this should be a banned substance that is only allowed with a TUE. The concern would then become how to test for the need. The current "quick" test seems very questionable and sounds like it may turn up a lot of false positives. Steve Magness mentioned on Twitter that this test could be used as a preliminary test and there is a follow-up test that is available that, as I understand it, could determine whether abnormal hormone levels are due to a problem with thyroid function or are related to other non-medical factors, such as the hard training that all elite athletes perform. I think this follow-up test should be required in order to get the TUE.

This is a very sticky and still developing topic. Does anyone want to share their thoughts at this point?

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

Some of you have probably already heard about this story. In short, a woman named Maureen Mengelt from Sun Prairie was out on a training run Sunday afternoon when she was hit by a drunk driver. She was taken to a local hospital but died at the hospital.

I was informed this morning that she was a long-time runner who had run the well known Syttende Mai 20 miler in Stoughton (near Madison) over 20 times. I’m sure she will be deeply missed in the running community over there.

Fortunately, it looks like law enforcement is throwing the book at this driver. It seems too often like incidents of car vs. walker/runner/cyclist are not treated so seriously. Excuses are made for the drivers and charges are usually minimal, if anything more than a civil fine of sometimes less than $200, even in the case of serious injury or death.

I’m posting this for two reasons. First, if anyone wants to follow this story, I can post follow-ups in the comments. Second, please be careful out there. I hate intersections, especially freeway exits. Drivers don’t look out for anyone not in a car, if they do see you they often assume you will get out of the way even if you have the right of way and they are incredibly unpredictable at intersections.