Confessions of Eddy Hellebuyck
Several years ago, I ran in the Heritage Oaks Bank Paso Robles 10Km, which was at the time the US masters’ national championship. I was struggling after a season of trail ultras and barely kept it under 40-minutes.
In that same race, Eddy Hellebuyck was having the race of his life (as a masters runner) and set a new American Masters record for the road 10Km. Finishing in an astounding 29:05, Hellebuyck was so far ahead of the 2nd place runner, they had a separate lead motorcycle for him.
A short while later, I was not surprised to hear that Hellebuyck had failed a doping test for EPO. Disappointed, but not surprised.
The December Runners World has an excellent article by John Brant wherein Hellebuyck finally comes clean about the doping allegations and gives some insight into why he did it.
The story left me with an uneasy mix of feelings about this runner. He cheated and stole other runners’ prize money. He’s also coming clean without being compelled to do so. If confession truly is good for the soul, there are many other prominent athletes out there who would do well to follow his example.