Daily News, Mon, July 15

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Badwater starts today. Here’s the webcast. For a little historical perspective, here’s our interview with Mike Wardian after he finished in 2011 and here’s our interview with Mike Morton right after missing the record by 76 seconds last year.

Tyson Gay (and Asafa Powell) busted for PEDs. That means that 8 of the top 10 100m runners of all time have been busted! And yes, I think Bolt is juicing too, recognizing that among other things, his strength coach was a BALCO chemist. How to clean up Track and Field from The New Yorker.

Does anyone believe that PEDs aren’t being used in MUT running? We’ve got to start having an honest discussion about this with a focus on out of competition testing.

Interesting: USADA’s “red flags”…are your supplements banned?

Rad video of guy going on an epic MTB trek across Eastern Europe.

Will running ever get easier? A dialogue with a Deadspin journo and his running playlist. Salty language alert.

Seb Chaigneau and Darcy Africa take top honors at Hardrock. Here’s IRF’s breakdown.

Meanwhile, Joe Fejes set a new Vol State record (and since it’s the last one, it’ll stand forever, I guess) in 3 days, 8:10:16 for the 500k trek across Tennessee.

…and there are still 12 Sri Chinmoy runners out there, chugging along on day 29(!) and nearing the 2,000 mile mark. A little perspective…the top guy has been running 460+ mpw for almost a month!

Here’s a quickie on Nikki.

…and a new issue of the UK’s Ultra Tales is out with a free download. Good stuff!

Hmm, so now participating in endurance events is going to shorten our life span?

There’ll be a test: Understanding pain.

18 Responses to "Daily News, Mon, July 15"

Alex says:

July 15, 2013 at 5:55 am

For long term health, I imagine the optimal dose of running is somewhere sub-marathon, if you’re actually going to put in a race effort. But I also think you have to live your life, and chase the horizons that inspire you. Just pay some mind to health and recovery in other areas, to counterbalance the extreme stresses applied by extreme endurance. Also, don’t race above your training.

And doping? Yeah, it’s happening. Even without substantial financial incentives, pride can be a powerful motivator. Just ask the local would-be-bodybuilder about his steroid cycles.

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  July 15, 2013 at 6:07 am
  
  Alex, my exact thoughts about PEDs. The argument that MUT running is clean because there’s no money is quite naive. Winning a race, increasing your ultrasignup rank, grabbing some fame and free swag will make people do crazy stuff.
  
  Reply
Mic Medeska says:

July 15, 2013 at 6:17 am

So who starts the testing? Who’s job is it? This weekend is the USATF Mountain Running US Championships, and there’s certainly no testing going on there. (i’ll be there racing btw, can’t wait!) I think there should be testing at any USATF event, and I think it’s time for the big boys (Western States, TNF Championship, etc) to institute a testing program. The obvious problem is cost. With the amount of money those races cost, I’d happily pay an additional $10 to know that there’ll be random sampling or that anyone that finishes in the top 10 (for example) are tested.

Reply
1. Jeff says:
  
  July 15, 2013 at 6:49 am
  
  That’s a good point – who will be in charge of testing? I think just testing athletes on the day of competition (i.e. top 10 testing) would be ineffective – Lance Armstrong proved that (the yellow jersey gets tested every day in the TDF along with the stage winner).
  
  Random testing would have to come at the mandate of a governing body – which there are several of, but none with enough money or clout to pull it off.
  
  Reply
  1. eric schranz says:
    
    July 15, 2013 at 7:55 am
    
    This is the big issue, and one that I’m writing a larger piece on right now, but essentially, I think it’ll be up to the market to pay and enforce the rules.
    If, say, New Balance kicked in a few grand a year and paid for their athlete’s testing, those team members would enjoy a certain level of respect and trust that I think other teams would want to gain.
    What to do with un-attached runners? Not sure, but a fund could be established to pay for out of comp testing for them or race sponsors could kick in some dough.
    
    Reply
Sam Robson says:

July 15, 2013 at 6:25 am

Hmm. The Outside article on lifespan uses James O’ Keefe’s research. I have real issues with that research, so really don’t put much stock in it. The only thing I can see that article saying is that you don’t get any extra benefit from running long distances over doing shorter stuff. Meh. Who cares? I like to run!

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  July 15, 2013 at 6:28 am
  
  And science consistently shows that happy people live longer. Where does that factor in here?
  
  Reply
  1. Sam Robson says:
    
    July 15, 2013 at 7:03 am
    
    Quite. Give me a few awesome years running through some of the most awe-inspiring locations in the world over a few extra years probably stuck in a hospital bed at the end of my life any day!
    
    Reply
LEM617 says:

July 15, 2013 at 7:01 am

Thanks for the site and thanks for sharing so much.

Reply
maggie says:

July 15, 2013 at 7:25 am

I have a question about Western after seeing the photo of Nikki Kimball at the river crossing. How is it determined who gets to ride in the rafts at Western States? Is it first runners get a ride? I couldn’t find it anywhere when I was looking into it.

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  July 15, 2013 at 7:51 am
  
  Maggie-
  I believe it’s determined by water level. This year, the first 10 runners or so crossed by boat b/c the water was too high to cross by foot.
  Don’t know which I’d prefer. You?
  
  Reply
  1. maggie says:
    
    July 15, 2013 at 7:59 am
    
    Got ya….with that heat..I think it might be nice to cool off with a walk!
    
    Reply
Kendra says:

July 15, 2013 at 7:52 am

I’ve wondered if big sponsors should step up and voluntarily start testing their athletes. If North Face, Patagonia, Salomon, etc started mandatory year round testing programs for their athletes, it would cut down the temptation at the top immediately. Complications would arise from athletes with multiple sponsorships or smaller sponsorships, but I believe these could be worked out with some collaboration. If it became a standard point of pride to say “We verify our athletes are 100% natural badass and here’s our testing program”, others will follow. An un-sponsored athlete may be tempted to dope, but there would be a risk that your performance would plummet if you started placing in the top races and picked up a sponsorship with testing.

Reply
footfeathers says:

July 15, 2013 at 9:29 am

Sponsors/teams have a bias in their athletes. They can’t be involved in the testing process, let alone DO the testing.

Really, does testing and policing doping do anything to help a sport? Look at cycling. It’s so tarnished at this point that, be honest, the first thing you think when someone wins a hard stage (or the tour) is that he probably dopes. When will altitude tents be banned? How is that different than blood doping? Why is one acceptable and the other not? Same with all the supplements flooding the market. Just let all of it be legal then the rich guys and gals can dope themselves silly to fight for short lived podium spots until their heads pop from aneurysms or ego.

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  July 15, 2013 at 10:00 am
  
  Tim, I think we agree on a whole lot.
  
  First, without some sort of realistic governing body (sorry, USATF, ya don’t count), no one could get “kicked out” of MUT running as they can in cycling or track so it’s really hard to compare the two sports.
  
  Also, all that team testing would do would give the runners/teams extra credibility. Do you think that if you opened up Ultrarunning magazine and there was an ad for NB that showed the team members with an “all tested clean” caption that that wouldn’t have an impact? I certainly do, and I’d bet the next month other teams would follow suit. It’d be cheap and easy marketing for the teams.
  
  Good point in the obvious COI with the teams testing their members, but if teams paid for clean and transparent out of comp testing, that conflict could be mitigated. How that’d be done, I don’t know, but we’re a pretty innovative lot and could figure something out.
  
  As you know, MUT racing doesn’t have the financial structure (or benefits) of cycling or T&F so I’d hardly believe that a Lance-like network could or would be set up to get around testing. Maybe I’m totally naive there. Would some athletes/teams try to fu*k it up, maybe, but this seems like a pretty good solution.
  
  Now if roiders want to go a little nuts (ha!) and use PEDs, well, that’s be up to RDs to boot them. However, I’ve got a feeling that if team testing was widely adopted, the suspicious glory and fame would be reduced.
  
  Out of curiosity, you do believe PEDs are an issue in MUT running? How prevalent? More centralized in Europe or the US?
  
  Reply
footfeathers says:

July 15, 2013 at 10:48 am

“Little nuts” – cracked me up.

3 years ago if someone said Salomon would be spending the money they do in the MUT scene, I would’ve been skeptical. Unfortunately, winning is often the only image sponsors strive to portray and that’s why they need to be far removed from any agency’s management of anti-doping.

At this point I think trying to establish sport-wide anti-doping policies/standards/rules in MUT would be a bit of putting the cart before the horse. Some structure, like the Sky Running Federation would need to take hold internationally, governing the bigger, high profile events. It’s currently just a wild free-for-all with basically no consistant standards connecting events other than using time as a measurement. It’s obviously complex.

My personal feeling, with no evidence, is that there is no doubt in my mind that there is PED use in MUT. I think one would be remiss if he/she only looks at the so-called elites in our sport when discussing PEDs; the age groupers are typically VERY motivated…

I couldn’t put a guess on a percentage of use in ultras but wouldn’t be surprised at 10%. To me, lining up next to a guy who blood dopes, uses an altitude tent, or takes MAP is no different. If it means that much to place in a small age group to someone, that he/she is willing to spend money to get there, then so be it.

Have rules AT the events (e.g. no course cutting, no tripping fellow competitors, no pacing, whatever) but don’t try to control what people do outside of the events. It’s too difficult. I don’t like seeing a guy next to me on a 20 lbs $9,000 mountain bike when mine weighs 30 lbs, just like I wouldn’t like knowing he’s using performance enhancing products (note “products” and not just doping) but I can’t control the amount of money he spends, or what decisions he makes in his desire to beat me. Everyone brings certain extrinsic advantages or disadvantages to the start line. The race is the neutral forum and that’s the only place control should be maintained. If you start controlling supplements, then I want to see everyone competing on the exact same bike and using the exact same gear in running.

Reply
EJ says:

July 15, 2013 at 12:44 pm

http://multidays.com/the-last-annual-vol-state-road-race-2012-press-release/
Well if last year was called the “Last” Annual Vol State 500km also then I am assuming that this year is not the “Last” and you can take your shot at the record in 2014. Lucky for you eh?! 😛

Reply
1. Bev says:
  
  July 17, 2013 at 9:38 pm
  
  but each year is the “last” one, is it not,as none others have occurred after…yet.
  
  Reply

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