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Drugs, Salazar, and Where Is The Line?

Alright. It sucks to write about this stuff. If you're a runner, you've probably heard about this by now. If not, here's the brief (real brief) synopsis of the report that's rocked the sport in the last couple weeks: basically, Alberto Salazar, Galen Rupp, and the Nike Oregon Project have been accused of various levels of doping over the past decade-plus. David Epstein wrote an article in ProPublica here, and the BBC produced an hour-long documentary which is on YouTube. If you haven't read or watched those yet, do it.

Salazar and the NOP have long been known for using every resource at their disposal to get the best results out of their athletes: underwater treadmills, anti-gravity treadmills, team houses fit to simulate altitude, the best coaching staff that Nike can pay for (and Nike has a lot of money).

However, in elite running circles, there have long been rumors swirling about NOP using drugs and supplements in ways that push the boundaries of the rules. Going up to -- but not crossing -- that line that marks illegal activity.

If nothing else, these pieces of investigative journalism validate those rumors. It should be fairly clear that NOP bends the limits of TUEs (Therapeutic Use Exemptions: a legal way for an athlete to take illegal drugs, as long as they are prescribed by a doctor for a specific medical purpose).

Reaction to these revelations has been pretty much what you'd expect: outrage, dismay, "I knew it all along," etc. People feel lied to, they feel dishonored, they feel disrespected. It's easy to feel cheated when you view professional athletes as the nostalgic innocent amateurs of 50 years ago.

Me? I'm not so sure there's anything damning here.

I echo Toni Reavis's sentiment: Where is the line? Where is the demarcation between fair play and cheating? Between legal and illegal supplements? It's easy to say that anyone taking anything is violating the spirit of the sport, but it's not as simple as that.

Take iron pills, for example. A common problem among endurance athletes, especially women, is iron deficiency, or anemia. When anemic, runners often feel constantly tired, worn down, lethargic. Iron pills are a standard (and perfectly legal) prescription for runners with low iron. But what about the runner who's feeling worn out and takes iron pills -- even though she hasn't been diagnosed as anemic -- just in case? That's another common practice among distance runners...is that acceptable? Taking an external supplement for athletic benefit without a medical diagnosis? Where do you draw the line?

Or caffeine. Everyone's gotta have their morning joe, and runners are no different. Runners love caffeine. Some can't run without their coffee first. Caffeine's also in various energy gel products, including performance chewing gum. Caffeine is a known performance-enhancer...which is why runners love it, and why it's also a banned substance. It's banned, but only if you have too high of a concentration in your test sample (it's something crazy high, like the equivalent of 15 cups of coffee in a day). So what about caffeine? It's a banned substance, but perfectly legal in small doses. Where do you draw the line?

And then there's altitude. We know that living and training at altitude boosts the aerobic capacity of most endurance athletes. No issue there. But down here at sea level, getting a tent that simulates the effects of altitude is a common substitute. Many people here see nothing wrong with this practice, but Norway bans the use of altitude tents. So what about using a man-made, artificial means to gain a performance benefit that most people wouldn't otherwise have access to? Where do you draw the line?

So where do you draw the line? You draw it where the World Anti-Doping Agency says so. That's why the rules and norms exist: to establish a universal line that everyone should adhere to. So as long as Salazar and NOP are operating within those established rules, as long as they are openly communicating and cooperating with WADA and USADA, I can't be outraged over their actions.

You really want to investigate doping? You really want to clean up the sport? Go to Russia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Jamaica. Find out what those athletes are doing. Test those who aren't being tested, monitor those who aren't being monitored. It's easy to make NOP the villains -- they are, after all, the athletic wing of the big bad evil multinational corporation. It's much harder to patrol what the rest of the globe is doing.

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