Sacramento Running News

The internet and email was burning up today as the New York Times ran a story about runner Christian Hesch admitting to using performance enhancing drugs.

Then came the Runners World Newswire story that was a considerably more critical and provided a little more background information.

Christian Hesch could best be described as a dominate local runner, living in Southern California, so why is this important to us in Sacramento?

If you’re a competitive racer, even an age-grouper, the odds are good he has cheated you personally. I looked him up in Zinsli’s database and found Hesch has regularly competed in local and regional Pacific Association USATF races.

These include multiple Run to Feed the Hungry 10Ks, PA cross country events, and other major local road races.

It appears the strategy was to target regional races where there was a small amount of prize money and little chance of testing.

While I personally believe in redemption, the confession only came after the US Anti Doping Agency began an investigation. Hesch denying that the EPO helped him compete, implying he only used it to help him recover, makes me even more doubtful of his sincerity.

Sadly, as well as stealing prize money from the legitimate winners, Hesch’s cheating immediately leads people to wonder about other runners he trains with–even though there is nothing to indicate cheating other than fast times and an association with Hesch.

While this story won’t capture the media’s attention the way the Lance Armstrong saga has, it may actually be more damaging to the sport. His misdeeds will haunt the amateurs in the sport for a long time to come.

By cheating, he’s not only stolen prize money from the legitimate winners, he’s  planted the seeds of doubt that will grow to shadow virtually anyone in the sport who excels or improves significantly.