"to err is human, to forgive is divine"

I suggest a 5 year ban. At his age, five years is a "lifetime". After time served, race on!

Except he didn't come forward, he got caught and everyone he knows was about to find out.

I like that idea. Maybe an added lifetime ban from Kona? Or just 5 across the board?

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If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
If at first you DO succeed, try to hide your astonishment!

Wow what a saga! I am impressed and amazed that you admitted you cheated here on this forum. Admitting to friends and family is tough enough but these Jackles are a tough crowd. I applaud the fact you came clean and can understand the temptation. I have been there faced with the chance of cutting a course and I damn near fell into the trap. I would have been easy but I thought I had worked my ass off and my result was my result. I went on to podium in my AG and was very proud of that accomplishment. Funny thing is I drive on the route of the race about every month and I look at the spot where I could have cut and am more proud of that than the good result. Keep going and learn from this for your whole life. I for one will not cast a stone.

I'm not going to condone or excuse what happened but I can certainly see how it did. And I can forgive it.

It seems like every IM run I do my body is telling me to quit. I actually joked about that at Cedar Point Rev 3 in Sept. I had on a very distinctive running shirt that people were obviously noticing. I made the comment to my wife after that I was glad I had it on because I was extremely tempted to jump across a block to avoid some of the run and end my pain more quickly. The fact that everyone noticed me as they went by made it obvious they would notice coming by a second time.

Your mind plays a lot of tricks on you when you are wiped out. I've never cut a course, but I have seen the temptation.

You will grow from this and you will recover from this. Besides, if you ever do anything but be the most upright non-drafting triathlete ever you will be called out before you even get back to T2. :)

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

That's the ONLY reason? Really? Do you know him personally like I do?

He actually came clean before this. He just doesn't post on slowtwitch so I figured it was the right thing to do to let him know that he was getting slammed on a public forum and give him the opportunity to respond and tell people here what happened, if he wanted to, which he clearly did. He already told his family and friends, and was in the process of writing a letter to wtc. Don't think that this thread is why he came clean, it happened well before this.

Despite what you and others might think, the triathlon world does not revolve around slowtwitch.

Not saying what happened was right, as it clearly wasn't and he's acknowledged it, but he is doing all the right things AT THIS POINT. He's trying to make amends with everyone, including people on here who weren't involved in the race in any way.

Which one is you?

Actually, I am more of the punishment should fit the crime. He cheated one race, he sits out one race. He qualified to get there. We know he is capable. Next year, he rolls his slot down to someone and that's it as far as I am concerned. The wrong was righted.

The guy had a friend on here vouch for his character and I respect that. Everyone makes mistakes.

I don't have any issue with you defending this guy "Racer X", but I have to question your motive in doing so. Possibly a conflict of interest given that he is a family member??? That is unless you didn't know that "Racer X" is really your long lost brother Rex who ran away from home years ago....

If you qualify the you deserve it. Just got to race fair and clean :-)

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http://www.frostyjunction.com/
https://twitter.com/FrostyJunction

This is a victimless crime, don't beat yourself up too much for it. It's not like you pushed your sister down the stairs and blamed it on the dog.

There are plenty of things I screwed up on during that age and would have never dreamed of owning up to unless I'd gotten caught. Thankfully, I did get caught by people that held me accountable and I'd like to think I'm a better person for it. An honest apology and an insincere one sound the same - it us up to the offender to live up to that apology to the people that are important to him to prove that it's sincere. As for the rest of us - we don't know this guy's heart, and can't so this will have to be enough unless proven otherwise.

Good luck man - a good friend of mine gave me some great advice: "fix it and move on". Here's to you doing just that.

twomarks

Don't start SpeedRacer. You've been pretty dubious in your own list of accomplishment here on ST and Twitter.

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What I do: http://app.strava.com/athletes/345699

Agreed. And the 'time'/penalties should be well defined.

It should be based on whether the crime was premeditated (which I don't believe it was) and the severity of the crime.
In this case he cheated mostly himself and 1 spot to anyone who finished behind him. He also cheated WTC out of a T-shirt.

I suspect he has suffered more in the last 12hours than anyone else. Admission to a forum is easy. Admitting it to family and friends must be brutal.

Does WTC have a clearly delineated penalty ? If the TDF bans for 2 years for doping and taking someone else's livelihood (prize money) away, what should the ban be here ? Capital punishment ?

Yet, this young man was drawn here with the intensity of a black hole. I suggest the triathlon world does revolve around slowtwich. It just doesn't know it until it is too late.

Chris Webber and the Fab 5
Pick a 22 year old player on the University of Miami football team
Pick a 22 year old player on the Ohio State football team
and so on

How many of them came out even after facts had clearly been established abou their skirts around the rules? You usually get the standard answer of "mistakes were made," but when was the last time you've heard of an athlete telling you what the actual mistakes were? It takes balls for a 22 year old to come out like this and to his parents. He'll learn and grow from this. That's part of life. I wish him the best. It's a big burden to carry around for a very long time.

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Amen. Although I do have to put it out there that I am friends with him, he's taking a lot of heat on here from people that were not at all affected by his decision. Not only is he putting up with it, hes accepting it and allowing people to ask him questions/criticize it even more.

If this happened in another race and he got a qualifying spot because of it, then its a different story. Everyone can be assured that is not the case.

The only person he let down is himself, and I'm sure nobody is going to be harder on him than he is. If people honestly have a legitimate bone to pick with him and don't like what's happening now that he is coming clean, I think they need to reevaluate themselves and why they are involved with this sport. If you truly do this sport for yourself and for enjoyment, what happened here should not matter to you.

TIME OUT!

I think no matter what the outcome is, people should remember that it's an Age Group race... and no one cares.

So all the guys doing blood transfusions get 2 years and this guy deserves 10? Come on.

He did a bad thing, but he's young and made a mistake, and once he was found out (or possibly even before) he showed his true character. I think 2 years ban is fair and then welcome him back and I expect he will be a stand-up member of the community.

He was actually drawn here because I sent him a text this morning saying "hey man you might want to check out slowtwitch." Otherwise he would have never have come on here.

No, it's not a different story. It is a matter of integrity. Honor. Honesty. Character.

This is a window into this young man's character. The vast majority would never dream of doing what he did. I have dealt with many people of low integrity over the years and have become hardened and less forgiving. They tend to be repeat offenders especially when the dishonesty is, as in this case, so far outside the norm.

I hope this young man will truly learn and grow from this.

Start pink:
He qualified so he deserved to be there and should wear his finisher's shirt with pride, unlike those bastard lottery spot takers. End pink.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

That's the part that surprises me most. I understand he was spent at the moment and just wanted to quit but doesn't everyone experience that at some point in Kona. He could have sucked it up, walked the 5 miles he cheated, still had a very impressive time (about an hour longer), gone back to his room for a shower and meal, AND THEN GONE BACK TO THE FINISH LINE TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE THAT WERE STILL RACING.

Well done - good for you coming clean.

Now lets all move on shall we?

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Another IM in 2016 - hopefully..