Has anyone heard anything to the rumor that age groupers are goung to start getting tested, maybe as soon as nationals? I hope so. It’s been a big problem for a long time, and a lot of AG’s have been not only cheating, but damaging their health for an age group trophy. It should be no suprise to anyone, Age groupers have the same intensity, drive, and will to win as pro athletes do. So when a whole population goes unchecked for 25 years, it would only be natural for a large portion to take advantage of drugs, especially when they are so readily avaiable. You can go online and find anything that you want these days, so the temptations are just too great for some.
When I was racing pro, I was tested over a couple dozen times, and it always made me feel better about my race, that the others I raced were clean.(or just maybe beating the tests). I was even tested once as an age group runner in a marathon that I did in the middle of winter. I ran with the lead woman for a workout, and I figured it would be a 2:50 or something. She ran a 2:41, and drug me to a pretty good time where I got 13th overall. I was quite suprised to be grabber at the finish line to be escorted tothe drug tent. I asked what the deal was, and they said that a random sampling of the top 50 as well as the top 5 overall would be tested. I thought that was great. That what this sport needs, because I know that a lot of those age group awards are going to drug cheats, and it’s about time to clean it up.
I hope the rumors are true, anyone got any more info???
It wouldn’t surprise me if there are people stupid enough to be into the juice at the AG level. I once belonged to a gym that was full of muscle jerks that used to pass the stuff back and forth in the locker room. One guy even was injecting pig steroids that he was geting from a veterinarian. Even some of the BB women were into the stuff. Not many of them competed but they just wanted big muscles for when they walked around the gym. Total boneheads IMO.
I wouldn’t think that performance enhancing drugs are anywhere near as common with AG triathletes as with the bodybuilding crowd, but there probably is a few of them.
I’m a big purponent of drug free competition, and wish they could do something about it at the age group level. My only concern is that everyone things of HGH, THG, EPO, etc. What about the age grouper who takes insulin, ritolin, birth control (not sure if its on the list) or the countless other legal drugs that people legitimately take? Pro athletes are allowed to get a waiver before a competition, but I seriously doubt that many age groupers have done this. If they are going to test age groupers I would like to see the rules changed to penalize harshly for any illegal drugs and any perscription drugs taken without a perscription. Any “hard” perscription drugs which are enhancing (HGH, EPO, etc.) should also be dealt with harshly. Legitimate perscription drugs should be okay, as should virtually all OTC drugs/supplements in recommended doses.
I’m curious as to what you think the drug of choice is among age groupers? I’d be all in support of testing but is USAT going to drop the $200/test or whatever the rate is now to catch the Nth place guy in the 40-44 group taking an over-counter cold medicine (whether he has a cold or not is a moot point)? My feeling is that less than 1 in 1000 in amateur triathlon is taking something stronger than that for performance enhancement. Granted, taking any known banned substance is cheating.
Doping in the AG ranks is out there and being done. I have a much better than avg understanding of pharmacology. I’ve been approached by one pro and two Agers ask me to help them dope.
If it’s a sport there is doping.
You have got to be kidding! I’d say 50% of them have tried something illegal and I’ll bet more like 20% are doing it on a regular basis.
But, this is a difficult area, particularly for older competitiors. By way of example, my pulmonologist just told me that a recent study confirms that testosterone replacement therapy is an appropriate adjunct treatment for those with COPD, asthma, etc. Since my free testosterone levels are very low, he suggested that I might want to consider trying it. To which I responded: “Well, if all of a sudden I start placing in my age group, most of the guys are going to be wondering what drugs I’m taking, inasmuch as they count on me finishing last.” So, do I take testosterone to improve my health, or do I skip it so I can race clean? I have so far opted for the latter, but you’d better check my IM LP results next summer to see if I’ve stayed clean.
I bet there are all kinds of AG’ers using drugs. And there are all kinds of ways to do it. For example, I have a softball buddy who is a big weightlifter. Over the years, he was off and on the juice regularly. As a result, his natural testosterone level has suffered. He was still lifting, and still in pretty good shape. But not what he was used to. So he went to his doctor, and the doctor found that his hormone/test levels were low. So he put my buddy on a prescription of testosterone injections to raise his test level to normal. In the process, my buddy gained about 20 pounds of muscle and pushed his bench back up to the 450 range. He looks like he’s on the juice. And he is. But it’s legal, he’d pass a drug test and he has a doctor calling the shots. Just how many triathletes, particularly older males, are also doing something like this? Is this cheating? Is it illegal? It certainly isn’t taking EPO, but isn’t it technically taking drugs? If it is, then thousands of AG’ers are on drugs.
I’m sure that some AGers are cheating with PEDs. I think we should do everything we can to catch them. But, I suspect that random testing is likely to catch some people that are not trying to cheat. For example, I think that I read in Lance’s first book about his not being able to take OTC allergy medicine because some were on the banned list. I take OTC allergy medicine every year between about August 20 and about September 20, the peak ragweed season. I don’t see why anyone would want to test me given my race results, but they would find OTC allergy medicine in my blood if they did. Random testing might be the only way to catch the drug cheats, but you are going to “catch” some innocent athletes that** actually** didn’t know any better unless you publicize what you are doing really well.
I guess during my 20+ years of mid to high level competition and the fact that I haven’t seen nor been asked about anything beyond Vivarin and the occasional Sudafed tablet (within the sporting context, this is) has made me naive. I suppose I’ve been fortunate.
50% of all AG triathletes have tried illegal PEDs? Not a chance, think about it, there were what between 50,000 and 75,000 AG triathletes last year. And you think in excess of 25,000 were taking illegal PEDs? That’s a huge number, or my guess of the total number of triathletes is way off.
Testing people like me – MOPer in this purely for the fun of it – would be a joke. There are far better ways to use valuable resources. Maybe random testing of AG FOPers in random races.
I can’t count the number of guys I see hitting inhalers before a race…asthma seems to be much more prevalent in triathletes than the avg population…uh uh…sure it is.
Even if you are, that is good, some cheaters are scared now. And they should be.