bay to breakers 12 (kilos)

it has been some time since race preparations have taken me to the starting line. after finishing a grueling last few months of san francisco's bay to breakers 12k i am actually relieved to be racing again. the last two years saw me as the elite athlete coordinator for bay to breakers, the largest road race in the world. this volunteer position has given me an amazing amount of media experience, management opportunities, and organizing independence- more than i ever had as a physiology lab director for the last 2 years. the best part is i really enjoy the work. it was the same enjoyment i got from working in the lab- the athletes.

although the event was successful, i struggle(d) with the ethical situation of watching a former drug cheat set a world record on the course after i personally invited her to run. it is quite a difficult situation for me to try and enjoy a world's record (how many elite athlete coordinators can say that?) but at the same time know that this particular woman has done EPO, an illegal blood enhancer in the past. to be honest, i was NOT excited at all. in fact, i was quite disgusted that i didn't know about her past sooner. her agent did not provide me with the information, nor did i have any reason to ask. he explained to me the athlete was on a maternity leave. as an athlete i am constantly trying to compete better, run faster, and enjoy the sport more all through the powers of hard work and genetics. i know i'm not alone in this perspective. the less i need to rely on equipment, fuel, etc the more i can take control of the outcome. drugs take the person out of sport. the needle is a CHOICE the athlete makes, knowing full well the consequences and potential rewards. it is this choice that leads me to believe epo should be a lifetime ban. and don't get me started on barry bonds...

it was really interesting to see the other athletes treat the formerly banned athlete. most ignored her presence and some seemed irritate to be sharing the same air with her prior to the race. but an interesting thing happened after the race: many of the athletes congratulated her accomplishment. it was as if following the distance humanity was restored and all the competitors realized they ran the same 12 kilometers- a sort of tribal forgiveness: the former convicted cheat ran, won, and showed dominance in a way that was respected by those left in her wake. this however, lasted about two hours before the last of many comments made to me was given in broken english with enough emotion to fill in the missing words. i got the picture and it did not differ from my own opinion- drug cheats are frauds. they steal prize money and appearance fees from clean athletes. and here i am caught in the middle of everything. now don't think this was some little road race worth a $25 gift certificate to Dot's Diner (although if one has tried Dot's biscuits, this is a pretty good prize)- bay to breakers was a gem in the crown of road races, a 70,000 person event with a $10,000 check made out to the winner. i feel finally i have a chance to influence the way running is presented to the public and i might have failed. is it because drug use in athletics seems so ubiquitous that nothing can be done? are we as athletes so saturated in how we can chemically alter our performance (i'm sure google's ads to the right of the post will confirm the availability of performance enhancing drugs automatically) we begin to feel drugs are part of training for some and we can't avoid cheaters? but truthfully i'm glad to have this experience and make recommendations for improvements and suggest ways to deal with the media in the future. sometimes the need to improve or eliminate "failure" is just what one needs for innovation and forward thinking. who would have thought graduate work in the philosophy of sport and morality (applied ethics) in athletics would ever be a part of a job?

now with bay to breakers finished i can concentrate on my last "home" track race of my life. sunday night, 8:40pm start, 8:53:50pm finish. let's see how fast i can run without the needle...