HAS THE MARATHON WALL BEEN TORN DOWN?
3 days ago
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Army 10: Alene Reta cheats again?
I'm sorry, but I really don't like this guy. He was previously suspended after testing positive for a steroid that increases muscle growth and red blood cell production, although he claims he ingested it accidentally (yes, old news...). Nowadays though, he's very well known for running the biggest races that have cash prizes and don't blood test. Not only is he running much faster than he did when he tested positive, but he's been known to run 10ks in the low 27s two days in a row, which is basically almost impossible without some sort of extra boost (in fact, just 2 months ago, he he won a major 10K on a Saturday and took second in a major 6 mile race the next day). I'm not going to deny that the guy has mad talent and probably works very hard; it takes a lot more than doping to run as fast as he does, but still, this guy is the most blatant cheater in the books. To my knowledge, he hasn't run a race that required a blood test since his ban was lifted in 2003. Great runner, much faster than I'll ever be, regardless of how he got there, but still, I'd like to see RDs across the country ban this guy if he won't prove he's clean.
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Oh, and something I forgot... He was caught racing under multiple aliases while banned. There needs to be some way to perma-ban this guy.
Who cares? If he wants to do that to himself, well, then so be it. The last thing I want in our sport is the integrity get lessened by doping & drug enhancements; but in the same respect it takes away the purity of the sport when every big race has to verify the athlete hasn't cheated. There are probably thousands of runners who dope or use enhancements, just like any sport out there. But to test everyone for every drug during every race is a bit ridiculous. Running and swimming are as pure of sports as one can find. No instruments, no balls or nets or hoops or goal lines... just go fast and go from here to there...
I told a co-worker about the winning time @ GEER being under 11 hours. His first response was "did they test him"? Is that what our sports have come to? Guilty until proven innocent. And it pissed me off. I ran that same race and it was F***ing hard. He diminished the accomplishment by 'oh I bet he cheated' and 'he shouldn't ever be allowed to race again'.
I think the dude likes to run fast, and sure, he probably cheated (and I've never heard of him & really don't care ever to again), but who gives an F. If he wants those trophies, let him fill his walls.
F this noise.
Joel, you told a co-worker the GEER winner was 11 hours and that was their response?
If you had told me that time I would have been like okay, what does that even mean? I can't imagine someone you work with has any more running knowledge, lest they have run GEER themselves, to even know what that time would correlate to.
Also, who says that "did they test him" - that's a weird thing to say. Ben ran a 2:32 marathon last year, I doubt anyone went around saying we should test him. Except for like, maybe an eyesight or hearing test, since, you know, he's old and whatever.
Collin's point, while strange that he would choose the forum of this blog to make it, is pretty fair. Sounds like the guy is shady in the very least for running under aliases but hey, we all have our reasons (cough Ron McDonald cough cough).
I absolutely agree that in any big money race there should be testing, because that not only affects one person (the one who cheated) but potentially other people who may be counting on that money as part of their livelihood.
Shit, I know an age grouper who got tested at Eagleman this year because the race direction felt his performance was basically not in line with a normal standard of improvement. Dude's just a hell of an athlete and went from being a swift runner and decent triathlete to an amazing triathlete.
However, it would likely be difficult, beyond him testing positive currently, for this Reta guy to be banned from races. It's up the organizers whether they want to comp his entry or not, but they certainly cannot deny him entry if he were to enter on his own volition.
The co-worker is an old bitter 60+ year old former Washington Senators baseball player. He doesn't really know running clock times, per say, but is an athlete with sports knowledge. When i told him the winner was approx. an hour and a half faster than 2nd place, his gut reaction response was that.
If this dude is raking in $$ for winning races than he should get tested.
I bet the eagleman winner's reaction to the test? I bet he was pretty po'ed?
No matter what I put in my body I'll never run 27-min 10k. So, kudos to him anyway. I'll stick with Gatorade ha-ha!
Well, I didn't display humble attitudes on my posts today - for that, my bad.
**Ryan: "Did you get the eagleman winners' reaction to the test?"
I've known of age group athletes who have cheated, it's not unheard of. It's especially not unheard of for professional athletes trying to make their living at a sport to try and have an "edge".
I think the guy I know was surprised by the test, but it wasn't like he had cheated so he was whatever about it.
I also think that the longer the race, the more likely there is to be a larger gap between runners. You wouldn't see an hour and a half between 1st and 2nd in a 10k.
Kim Kardashian is hot.
My 2 cents: cheating (using EPO etc) in a race is the equivalent of theft and hence violators should be prosecuted as such.
ATM however, unless things have changed (?), is a non-cash reward race
That's what I thought, Jake - I couldn't remember them having money...but how else do they pull the quick times? I know they usually have the Brazilians, and I guess they're "Brazilian Army" (maybe Alex can confirm/give us a history lesson on what battles Brazil has played an integral role in, other than the battle for allowing dudes to wear speedos to work).
But cheating is for cheaters.
Yes, it's a big "army vs army" race or which service is fastest. I've been told that the Enclave team use to battle to US Army here for bragging rights.
ATM is non-cash? Weird.
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