|
Some of you may have noticed that I didn’t list the 3 new event records as one of last year’s highlights. The women’s 5K record was one of them for sure, as Denisa Costescu ran a heck of a race. So did the other two record setters, but they raised some controversy. Both of them came in at the last minute with an agent from New York along with another of the female race winners. One of them had been banned by the USATF for a period of time for use of banned substances. On top of that, we’d never had a professional group of out of state hot-shots waltz in and take a big wad of prize money from our race before. It was a bit of an awaking, especially all of the wrangling we went through afterwards checking on the all of the drug/doping issues. Some people called it the “Crim-ification” of our race. That term may not be fair to the Crim, but that’s exactly what people said.
On the issue of banned substances, we certainly are all well aware that it goes on in many sports, and running is no exception. I don’t know to the degree it goes on here in the U.S., and in particular at the local level, but I’m sure it’s around. After last year’s race we were forced to do a lot of research on the subject of drug testing, and how the results can be shared. I found the whole of it to be discouraging. I hope we never administer a drug test after the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run for a number of reasons, not least of which is they are expensive. It’s also a bit of a bother having to supervise athletes as they urinate. (I’ll be sure to delegate that job to an assistant!) But to protect the runners who don’t use drugs, we have to be prepared to consider offering drug tests. Possibly when other athletes suggest that we start administering testing, I’ll consider it more seriously, but I’ll still probably find it depressing.
As to the out-of-towners, I found the notion of a group of big-shot runners with agents coming into town the day before the race, setting a new record, pocketing a lot prize money and leaving town the same day a bit uncomfortable regardless of the substance abuse allegations. That may be the way national caliber races with big budgets operate, but it’s not the way I hope to see the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run work and the AATC board seems to agree. To discourage this, we decided to do is to lower the prize money for race records. Also, although we’re not lowering the prize money the top half marathon finishers, we are changing the award mix so that much of it will be in gifts and gift certificates from local merchants. This should still appeal to people who live in this area, and it should discourage out of towners from bopping in for a day just to take our money, at least that’s what we hope.
If the main reason you’d come to run this race is to earn some cold hard cash and not to run in a great local race, well then this may not be the race for you, simple as that. Out of towners, out of staters, people from around the world and even Martians are certainly welcome to come and run as always, but if you are talented and lucky enough to win some loot, you’re gonna at least have to stick around long enough to figure out how to spend most of it around here, that’s all. If that disappoints some people (or Martians), sorry, but so be it. I hope we don’t have to start doing drug testing any time soon, but at least we now know what to do if we need to perform them, so, for better or worse, if need be, we’re ready. Elite athletes and their urine samples – what a way to make a living…
Hal Wolfe
1/13/08 |
