I know it sounds corny but I would like to hear KQ'ers stand in front of their peers (at the awards ceremony) and pledge that they will race clean. Heck, I liked to hear everyone recite a pledge at the beginning of each tri to race fair and clean. If it is said enough times maybe it will sink in with some of the knuckleheads.

They were testing at Kona this year. Are these results every published? Could be pretty damaging for the brand if even a few AGers tested positive and the results were publicly known. But, it would go a long way to discourage cheating (at Kona, at least.) On the other hand, I'm more concerned about qualifying races. I haven't witnessed any testing at the 5 non-Kona IM + 2 70.3's that I've raced.

People willing to go to the lengths of doping to cheat at a hobby wont feel any remorse about lying through their teeth in front of their peers. I would go so far as to say that cheaters actually feel good about cheating the system. They take pride in it, and feel no remorse. No one is hanging their head in shame while pumping themselves full of EPO. While I like the idea, it would do nothing to deter cheaters.

I'd like to hear something similar recited for drafting prior to each race!

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Long Chile was a silly place.

And this is exactly why that whole Clean Protocol stuff is so utterly useless.

Nyquil contains dextromethorphan and doxylamine succinate - and a healthy amount of ethyl alcohol.

Can you find them on the list?
http://list.wada-ama.org/by-substance/#D-group


It hasn't contained decongestants for a while, maybe since sudafed got put behind the counter.

Well, the inhalers would be a poor way to get the steroid into your system. Very small amounts of the steroid work their way into your endocrine system from the lungs, to the best of my knowledge. It's a few parts per million if I recall. Which is why the use of these inhaled steroids is now ok. Trust me, as a long-time inhaled corticosteroid user, these drugs only give you a fighting chance to get enough air to keep up a moderate pace in a race. Before asthma I could run 5 minute miles and now struggle to hold 8 minute miles in a standalone race and 12-13 minute miles in a half-IM. Anyone who thinks asthma inhalers are some magic bullet/performance enhancer is badly misinformed.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Good to know. Thanks for the correction!

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George D.
Canton, GA

My understanding (could be wrong!) was that the reason pro cyclists were using these inhalers in high doses was for the stimulant effect they have. Lungs will only open so much, so using more than 2-3 puffs is likely useless for most people in that regard, no?

So glad that now everyone has a built-in excuse for when they don't quite KQ. Of course, there were plenty of excuses before I guess...

Dosing for me is very critical. Too much and I have a paradoxical reaction and have trouble breathing. Too little and I will experience an exacerbation.

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

I'd rather a clean 9:45 than a doped 9:00....
Shows the true difference in people that when they are alone and
Reflect on their accomplishments that any event they cheated in were as good as a DNF... They don't exist.... And in that case what is the point...?
And re getting to Kona or not... In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter any more than any other event....
And if it's all just for money then it proves these clowns are too dumb to get any other job that has a salary...
All in all it's easy to pity these people.....

I'm not the least surprised. At my last race: 2nd place 2:04 third 2:06 I was 6th at 2:11. The winner went 1:48. Uh huh. Right. If we've learned anything from TdF is if the result looks funny that's because it IS.

My suspicion is that European age group triathlon is littered with dopers.

1:48 is chasing podiums in ITU isn't it?

Yes, sir. Either the guy cut the course, had his chip mess up or was an actual pro.

Let's worry about North America Age group triathlon before worrying about what our Euro friends are doing...as Logella pointed out...we might want to check that the Dasani and Wonderbread here is all what it is cracked up to be before getting to bent out of joint about the Evian and baguettes over there.

I am less worried about what guys are on when they are blowing by on the QueenK...it is too late, because the bandits robbed the banks and are escaping with the prize. I am more concerned about the act of robbery that get them to Kona in the first place. Once they are there, it is a bit too late. Most of the stealing has already been done!

why would you suggest that europeans are more pre-disposed to doping than Americans? even if we did start it, the Americans perfected it........

I'm not sure why you'd think this.

Although a 47 year old amateur I was randomly selected for a dope test at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year and having now gone through this experience I can honestly say that I am really pleased that it happened as it has confirmed that I race clean. Being a FOP AG (Gold and Silver at ITU Worlds & Kona finisher) I can now prove the legitimacy of my performances.
If and when a test becomes available that is relatively cheap, say £100, I would seriously consider signing up and paying to be randomly tested just to prove my authenticity.
I would also happily pay an extra £10 in race fees for 70.3 and Ironman events if I knew that this money would be spent on randomly testing say 50 to 100 age group athletes.

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Chris Walker.
Gibraltar,
Europe

I'm rather uncomfortable with this rather black and white view when it comes to age-groupers. When prize money, sponsorship and history is in the making then there is no place for dopers are even ex-dopers who continue to benefit, so for the pros the penalties should be draconian as the whole point is that the best athlete wins. However the story for age-groupers is very different, the playing field is vast. You have young trust funders pretending to be pros, self made millionaires who retire in their forties and have Mark Allen coaching them, you have part-time workers who spend their summer in the Alps, those who can afford altitude tents, ex-pros who's job now involves running training camps. On the other extreme you have the weekend warriors trying to do the best that they can do with families and stressful jobs. I'm not happy with the idea that the 'bandits' are only those who supplement with EPO or similar stuff, it's assuming all else is equal, and this is definitely not the case for potential Hawaii qualifiers. Trying to untangle all of these variables is impossible, hence the discomfort of targeting the one obvious immoral and illegal one, at the expense of the other less problematic ones...

SteveMc

Lots of people can swim, bike, run for 12 hours - try doing it for 16 or 17 - now that is endurance - that extra 4-5 hours really makes it an endurance sport : )

Are you saying that having money to afford "Mark Allen" coaching you, to afford less work more training, to afford an altitude tent, to afford training camps is equivalent (although not illegal) to doping? Because it sure sounds like it.

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Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

Europeans are way better social drug takers than the N. Americans, that said .... N Americans love taking drugs to combat even the most minuscule health issue. Based on that in depth analysis I think it's probably about even with regards to performance enhancing.

I think all KQ'ers should take and pay for a test right there at KQ signup. I assume 24 hours would be too soon for drugs to clear?

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https://www.pbandjcoaching.com
https://www.thisbigroadtrip.com

Nope, that's *exactly* not what I'm saying! You read what you wanted to. For pros I think it is black and white, for age-groupers there is a spectrum. For a pro one could argue that it would be unprofessional not to use altitude (real or virtual) if it works for you, unprofessional not to use a wind tunnel, have high performance coaching etc.

So turning the question on it's head, what does it mean to be an age-grouper? I really don't know the answer to be honest. The romantic view of an uber talented professional with a family who survives on 4 hours of sleep, performing tough 6am workouts daily, while holding down a demanding job etc. just doesn't resonate with what I've seen and what *most* humans are capable of.
I've seen a few of such mutants, top 3 guys in Hawaii, either single or *very* understanding families, capable of going sub 10 on 14 hours max training a week but they're really exceptional. I suspect the guys doping are not in this group, but have heaps of time and money but still cannot do it without the juice. However I really don't know for sure. I really don't know how much of a kick EPO would give a MOP who's only doing an average amount of training versus a FOP who's putting in 25 hours a week. LisaH tried to justify her doping years ago but claiming that lots of people where doing it just to beat their mates...

SteveMc

Cool, just clarifying :) But what you are saying about age groupers applies to pros too. The vast majority of pros are not at Kona, they are working, up early training, work all day, train at night. It is no different that a lot of age group athletes. Yes there are pointy end of the pointy end pros like Rinny, Kienle, Ryf etc... but there are pointy end of the pointy end AGers who podium regularly too.

Is doping enough to get a FOP athlete (AG or Pro) past the hurdle and to the very pointy end, yes. But I wouldn't doubt there are plenty of people doping "just to beat their mates".

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Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca