In a message dated Mon, 30 Oct 2000 11:04:02 AM Eastern Standard Time,
"Mcewen, Brian T" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Substitute "distance running" for professional cycling in the last sentence
and you have the ESSENCE of the reason for my anti-drug blather that has
been so unpopular for a year. An unaided male cannot ride at 33 mph ...
just as routine 2:06 and 2:07 marathons and 27:00 10k's cannot be done
without the dope.
For those of you who always say: Prove to me there is a fundamental limit
to human performance! I say: It looks like someone is here who will do
that for you. I don't know whether the current limits are 27:40 or 26:58 or
something else ... but it is not 26:22.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Brian, I don't think anyone would deny that there is doping in track & field.
But what I object to is that you seem to believe that every distance runner
who is running fast is doping.
That is simply not true, and don't dismiss it as naiveté or having my head in
the sand.
It is true that the rash of fast times in the distances has coincided with
the availability of EPO. But this does not necessarily mean there is a cause
and effect relationship. Sure, some athletes are doping, but I would posit
that the Ethiopians and Kenyans are now fully realizing their potential, and
that's why they're running so well.
Marathon times are fast, yes, but where are the times being run? We're not
seeing many faster times at Boston or New York than we saw 15 years ago.
We're seeing them in Amsterdam, Berlin and Chicago. These races are pancake
flat and are using a seemingly endless string of rabbits.
Just a few years ago on this list we were discussing how unusual it was for
Kenyans to be so dominant on the track, roads and cross country but be so
weak in the marathon. Now we're seeing what they can do in the event now that
they know how to train for it.
Did you look at Marty Post's data on the number of Kenyans who have run under
2:14? Those guys running 2:12s are the "D" squad. Is it really that
surprising you have a bunch running 2:07's and faster?
I know you said you couldn't think of what exactly were the times that would
reflect the barriers of human performance, but I ask you to try.
Would you say the following were dopedg times?
8:05 steeple?
27:48 10K in Nairobi (the fastest altitude time ever)?
I know for a FACT that un-doped athletes ran these times.
If you're going to attack all fast performances, give some standards and I'll
chime in with athletes I know are clean and have run those times.
It's your move.
sideshow
