Sacramento Running News

I’ve written here about the doping controls for masters athletes at the Worlds Masters Athletics Championships, realizing this may be the only time that many of us, as athletes, are faced with the specter of mandatory drug testing.

While this may seem intimidating to us amateurs, the reality of the on-going testing required of many elite athletes is significantly more daunting.

Tom Fordyce, a writer for BBC Sports, agreed to be subject to doping control under the UK Anti-Doping In Sport program. He writes about his experiences in a recent blog post.

Does my privacy feel invaded? You’d think so. My girlfriend is banging on the bathroom door, desperate to use the toilet. I have had my genitals examined at short range by a man I have only just shaken hands with. It is early in the morning, and I would rather be asleep.

It’s an interesting read.

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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote here about drug testing for the upcoming World Masters Athletics Championships that will be held this month in Sacramento.

It was nice to see in this morning’s Sacramento Bee, Sam McManis giving it the full treatment. McManis does an excellent job of picking through the various facets of the issue.

The money quote from elite masters runner Pete Magill:

“Like it or not, the perception of drug use among all athletes is out there,” he said. “It’s important that, as a group, we submit to drug testing to fight that perception. Any time now anyone has a great performance, the first thing people think is not, ‘That’s a great performer.’ They think, ‘That guy has a great pharmacist.’ “

I couldn’t agree more. It’s a definite “must read.”

If you are planning to run in this summer’s World Masters Athletics Championships, you should be aware that there will be dope testing.

While reporting on last summer’s National Masters Championships, as national and world records fell like rain, I started to wonder about the lack of doping controls.

I felt bad for the clean athletes who might be setting records. The lack of controls made me questions the results, and I know I’m not alone on this point.

Fortunately, this year’s World’s Masters Championships will have doping controls. (more…)