Doped-up runners delude themselves
What makes people cheat? What compels someone to think, ‘‘yeah, I know it’s wrong, but I’m going to do it anyway’’.
Running’s history is littered with shameful tales of people cutting corners, metaphorical and actual.
There are the farcical versions – where people have been driven large distances or jumped in taxis to hitch a ride, or, in at least one case, hiding in a portable toilet before springing out nearer to the finish.
Honestly, I don’t know how people have the gall to do something like that.
But lately when I’ve been thinking about cheating – let me clarify: when I’ve thought about why people cheat – it’s been in the context of doping.
We all know the big stories, the cases of Olympic champions stripped of their medals, of a certain Tour de France rider whose name was scrubbed from seven years of official history.
But I’ve been wondering about those lesser mortals who cheat, because, undoubtedly, they exist.
What got me thinking was an interview my Dirt Church Radio co-host Matt Rayment did with Dr John Onate, an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at the University of California Davis, and an accomplished runner.
Onate said that performanceenhancing drugs were a bigger issue than we realised.
‘‘I think in more mundane, affluent runners there’s a lot more doping than we ever really want to think about,’’ he said.
It had happened in amateur cycling circles that he knew of, so he had no doubt it was happening in running, too.
It’s a discussion that came up among some of my running mates last year when a Rotorua policeman and weekend warrior runner was busted for importing the blood-boosting drug EPO.
‘‘Do you reckon people dope?’’ my mates and I wondered. The consensus was, yeah, probably, though we had no idea who.
But it still doesn’t answer the big question: why?
Onate had a theory that it was a type of mid-life crisis for some with disposable incomes, the sporting equivalent of buying a Harley-Davidson or a Maserati.
‘‘Men, as you get older, you get slower and you don’t like that. But if you take a guy who is getting older and slower, and you give them testosterone and EPO, they may or may not win the race, but you know what? They’re going to run a lot faster than they would otherwise.’’
I think we can all agree then that ego has a lot to do with it. There are other reasons, too.
Years ago, I was lucky enough to talk to someone who admitted to taking performanceenhancing substances.
For them, it started out when they were struck down by injury – the frustration of being forced to slow down because of the injury, combined with ongoing frustration about the way they felt they were being treated within the sport, saw them make a decision they’ll regret the rest of their lives.
The point is, it was complex, and there were no simple answers.
But I think it’s important we keep asking ‘‘why?’’ Because the decision to cheat doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s often a symptom of wider issues – within the elite level, for instance, sometimes it’s about
the pursuit of money.
If we don’t attempt to understand why something is happening, or happened, we’ll never properly deal with it.
And by dealing with it, I don’t mean demonising people. That will just drive the problem further underground.
We like to think of sport as being pure, even though we know that’s delusional.
I like to think of running as being particularly pure, even though I know that’s an unrealistic fantasy.
But I know that in the next race I line up in, I’ll get to the finish line thanks to my own sweat and blood. And I hope that the dirty ones figure out they’re only deluding themselves.
Eugene Bingham and Matt Rayment are hosts of a trail running podcast Dirt Church Radio. Learn more at dirtchurch radio.com or get in touch via email dirtchurchradio@gmail.com
‘‘I think in more mundane, affluent runners there’s a lot more doping than we ever really want to think about.’’
John Onate