I check as well, not in a position that it matters (yet) but personally would not want to know it may have helped in some way and broken the rules.

I'm actually "prescribed" it by my Dr and make sure if I am taking it that I stop a week plus out of a race if I have been taking it. It gives me bloody noses and I also don't love how it makes my feel at times so I haven't been taking it lately but i really should be taking it daily.

On a side note lots of folks including my girlfriend had cold like symptoms the week of Kona, I speculate it was due to air quality (volcano smog) I felt it was quite bad this year and I was coughing a bit.

"in competition" In Kona basically means from package pick up to when your race ends, IIRC they tested a lot of AG athletes (some say over 100…not sure if thats true or not) in the few days before.

Maurice

Uh-huh. They suspected her of using something that has no performance enhancing effect so they called USADA.

Either way, I just hope that the first or only person they tested wasn't the 51 year old age grouper who was 7th in gender. //

This is exactly the person they should be testing, along with a few other AG's up from there. If you want to clean up AG racing, these are the folks to test. I have said it before, i believe if you tested the top 10 in each AG above 45, you would get over a 50% positive ratio. Most know what they are doing too, a few might be clueless and just took advice from a coach or friend without knowing. And DHEA works. I don't know where you get that it is not effective, it was used quite usefully in the old days. I knew guys taking 300+mg a day, and they absolutely thought/knew it worked. It was legal for a long time, and over the counter as you say, so it was widely used. I used a 25mg dose for about a year(while it was legal) and it absolutely had an effect on me. My gray hair turned brown again, and my sex drive went into overdrive. That is what i remember, so guessing that whatever caused those symptoms, also was working some magic on other performances. I remember being able to get it at costco too, super cheap and in large quanties. I just never felt good about taking too much of anything, vitamins, caffeine, or any of the other things we all tried that were not banned back in the day. But this one eventually made it to the list, and for good reason.


They used their testing dollars in the exact right spot, and the results bear it out..

People test positive all the time for stuff in OTC meds, and these are elites who are supposed to be cautious about this stuff--unlike amateurs just out to do a fun weekend event.

http://masterstrack.com/2010/05/12172/

Failing the Amateur Clean Protocol. Try to keep up.

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The plural of anecdotes is not data. Find a legit research study that shows DHEA is anything more than a placebo.

The fact that USADA lied about her being an elite T&F athlete says a lot. She does not even hold a license.

Her response:

http://masterstrack.com/2014/12/33461/

I think one year ban and forcing her to go on Oprah is punishment enough.

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

Ephedrine. That's a full-blown stimulant, and behind-the-counter in the U.S. Admittedly, my knowledge is somewhat U.S.-centric.

I think you're exaggerating the frequency of this. Going down the USADA list there hasn't been a pseudoephedrine positive since 2004. And scanning down the list I can't spot any "OTC" positive over the past few years. Although I could be missing them if I don't know the chemical names correctly...

ok at this point I have to wonder if you are being intentionally misleading and have some ulterior motive, the original press release is here:

http://masterstrack.com/2014/12/33447/

The word elite does not appear.
Track and field was likely an error, not a lie. why lie about that?

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

We can get a pretty good handle on how often people get popped for OTC meds, at least in the usa:

http://www.usada.org/...g/results/sanctions/

how many?

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Marathon runners fall within the ambit of "track and field" for USADA purposes. There is no separate "running" or "marathon" category. Marathon is a "track and field" sport in the olympics.

 

Probably just a database field issue. All their runners are listed as "Track and Field." They don't have a "ultra-marathoner" or "trail runner" field, probably because USADA has never before caught an ultra or trail runner. Someone in their office maybe should have pointed out, "Hey, she's not exactly track & field, maybe we should insert a new field into the database." But I'll give them a pass. Because that's, at the end of the day, a trivial detail.

I guess it falls under the 'field' part of track and field? haha

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I love this "I feel like I’ve been abducted by the circus.” the chic nailed it.....

It was over the counter until recent years, still is legal in plant form, and still doesn't require a prescription in most forms just ID (such as in sudafed and other decongestants).


While yes it is behind the counter, it was OTC just a few years ago which for most people changes what they probably think about it.

"Marathon runners fall within the ambit of "track and field" for USADA purposes. There is no separate "running" or "marathon" category. Marathon is a "track and field" sport in the olympics."


I thought it was common knowledge among runners and certainly STers that this is the case.

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

Right. There were a ton of pseudoephedrine positives in 2001-2004. One change was what you mentioned - increased regulation in the U.S. Another was I think WADA changed it from a banned drug to a threshold drug.

But my point is if I walk into Walgreen's today, and go to the cold remedy section, and take anything at the recommended dosage, I'm very, very unlikely to test positive.

If I go to the supplement aisle, take something from behind the counter, or double up on cold medicines I could get into trouble.

But I think that's reasonable.

Yeah, just a mistake that they describe a recreational runner who does not hold a USATF license as a track & field athlete. It could not possibly be a way to puff up the unfortunate runner who tripped over rules that make no sense.

Lucky for us Travis Tygart saw fit to waste USADA resources on people doing fun runs. Note that failing to get a TUE for a substance that has no performance enhancing effect is worth a year's suspension while being spending years on a hardcore doping regimen, like Dave Zabriskie and Levi Leipheimer, warrants six months during the off-season. Way to go USADA.

I'm not sure "Track and field athlete" is any more misleading than you are being when you call a age group winner and overall contender at races 'recreational'.

She has been in the game a long time, she gets top results, entered a race that was advertising that it would be testing, and got caught.

Too bad for her she didn't have a Bruyneel to turn in for an extra 6 months off.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

USATF sanctions a number of trail championships. If you are running in them you will fall under USADA even if you don't hold a USATF license. Which is an oddity of the way it works. You can race in a USATF trail race and not hold a license, you are just not eligible for prize money. (I have missed out on some money for not holding a license more than once) Pikes Peak was a USATF trail championship event. USATF has a fairly large umbrella which they have been trying to grow in the last couple of years in to trail and ultra events.

If there is testing at a very competitive event and a 50 year old is in the top ten, I would test her too.

..

Sorry, this was not a "fun run", and you're being intentionally obtuse if you continue to argue in this direction.

I find testing of the top 10 at this race entirely appropriate, and I'm very glad usada used resources to do so. This is the type of bust that will help serve as a major deterrent to amateur doping.

I find Kristi Anderson's "woe is me" story disgusting. She's a physical therapist; not knowing doping rules is close to professional negligence--and at the least pure stupidity. If she wants to take legally prescribed DHEA for health reasons, fine: she can also choose to not sign up for competitive races.

And shame on Lava magazine and the hack at materstrack.com for writing such one-sided stories.

I agree that the year's suspension is ridiculous when compared to Hincapie's and Leipheimer's off-season 6 months--but that's a reflection of them wrongly getting insanely light penalties. Compared to how they should have been punished, Anderson's year is entirely appropriate.

if it is ineffective, why did the doctor prescribe it ?
if it is ineffective, why does Kristi continue to take it ?

I'm happy to hear of this suspension. It's no different from me taking testosterone for 'medical reasons'. Doping is what it is, real simple.
A highly competitive runner who hasn't heard of TUEs ? it would make a cat laugh..

If I'm drunk on a bike, can I get nailed for DUI? It is a vehicle, after all...

I see that I wasn't the only person to have this thought.

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.