Christian Hesch doping article in the NY Times/Competitor.com

More from David Torrence

http://www.reddit.com/r/running/comments/11isyz/i_am_a_professional_track_athlete_amaa/

"What is your take on Christian Hesch doping? And him saying "another runner recommended pharmacies that other runners preferred"?

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[–]DTRunsThis[S] 9 points 58 minutes ago

I think it is a shame and a disgrace. It is especially distasteful due to the level he was doing it at. When the top top guys are doping, yes, it is extremely frustrating and can cost people a lot of money. But at the end of the day, we are all going to still be able to live and get paid. At the sub-elite level he was competing at, those guys REALLY need the money. They're not sponsored, they don't get appearance fees...they're doing all the can to pay rent, buy groceries, get a ticket to another race all while training full time. I've been there before, and I remember how every few hundred dollars made a WORLD of difference. So to see someone like him that cheated those guys that are doing their best to live their dream...just leaves a sick taste in my mouth. If he is truly sorry, he will pay back the money he stole from prize winnings, and then we can say some things are beginning to get more even.

As for the "other runners" comment, I hope that he is being very open and honest with USADA, and that although he hasn't named anybody publicly, that they are working together to bring down some other athletes."

you're a turd.

“My justification was that if I used it for three weeks, was running three weeks after that, then I’ll race in another two to three weeks, and, theoretically, I’ll have all the benefits out of my system,” he said.

His dishonesty and his dumbness are in a ferocious battle for supremacy.

And I don't know if this is true or not, but Miles Batty tweeted that Hesch was actually paid by the NY Times for telling his story. Just frigging shameless.

not a deathbed converter wrote:

Please, read the runnersworld story on the sequence of events and what he told or didn't tell people at different times. His "coming clean" is a last desperate attempt to bargain for a reduced suspension.

Hesch, a child who still wants to compete and who is willing to do anything to get an edge, seems likely to will rat out other athletes in an effort to get a shorter suspension. A mini-Balco? This could get interesting!

He's a weird guy. I just looked at his twitter feed and I honestly think he's enjoying all this. Hell I could even see him posting negative comments about himself anonymously on letsrun just to keep his name in the news. I wouldn't be surprised if multiple comments on this thread were made by him.

Mack the Fork wrote:

...Hesch was actually paid by the NY Times for telling his story...

Not true, Hesch would take the money, but the NY Times does not pay for stories.

When I was running in college in the early 2000s I heard of guys doping, and was even offered some contact info for a supplier (and if I was more competative and had money might have been tempted to look in to). THIS WAS DII. After that I realized it was fully integrated into every spectrum of competative endurance sports. People need to wake up and stop being shocked, it is as common and gatorade and recovery powder. And you have 99% chance of getting away with it if you are not a complete moron (i.e. leaving vials around in your bag at races)

Apparently, Mr. Kasica was originally assigned the story by Competitor, and accepted it, but decided to take it to the Times.

Yea the head editor at Competitor isn't too pleased. Check Mario Fraioli if you gots the tweeter.

twitstar wrote:

Yea the head editor at Competitor isn't too pleased. Check Mario Fraioli if you gots the tweeter.

That's how I learned of it. It's as if Kasica was functioning as much as a PR guy for Hesch as he was a journalist.

The whole thing is unspeakably strange.

Fat now wrote:

When I was running in college in the early 2000s I heard of guys doping, and was even offered some contact info for a supplier (and if I was more competative and had money might have been tempted to look in to). THIS WAS DII. After that I realized it was fully integrated into every spectrum of competative endurance sports. People need to wake up and stop being shocked, it is as common and gatorade and recovery powder. And you have 99% chance of getting away with it if you are not a complete moron (i.e. leaving vials around in your bag at races)

This is true, people will dope for glory, even if there isn't actual prize money to be had. Although with collegians I suppose there is the prospect of getting some scholarship dollars.

Most of the people I "knew" were on the program were power/strength oriented athletes, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were distance runners doing it too.

This news makes me sad.

Since I am a bigger guy, a guy like Hesch gave me hope that with more training I could do okay. Never thought I'd do that great but it was nice seeing a bigger guy run competitively. Now this news...

Pancreas removed? LOL'ed at that.

Junk Master wrote:

Sport has never been clean. Early Olympians used to have their pancreas removed to drop weight as well as taking small doses of strychnine.

dude is a complete loser

Lets get one thing straight here. Hesch did not "come clean" or "do the decent thing".

He was caught with EPO by a team mate and even then refused to acknowledge his guilt. ONly when his team took the evidence to the USADA did Hesch admit he took EPO, and even then, according to his own admission he would have fought the charges and continued to lie had it not been so expensive.

So, Hesch would still be lying cheating and stealing prize money today, had he not been busted. He must not be allowed to paint himself as some sort of reformed character who has learned a lesson. He has learned NOTHING.

Oh yeah, anyone want to bet that the long board shorts were worn to cover injection site bruises.

I wonder why those guys wear the long shorts. always trust a guy in short shorts

bums me out--i raced and lost to him many times in the mid-to late 2000's.

There have been several posts regarding the legitimacy of runners in California being suspect because of the proximity to Tijuana. Let me set the record straight: There are TONS of good runners who work hard and do not do that. I worked my ass off along the Fullerton Trails for years trying to qualify for the trials--never did. No big deal. I know others who did though, and they did it without resorting to Tijuana Pharmacies.

So-Cal is a big place with tons and tons of people, so of course there will be more opportunities for cheating, but not all of us hard working runners do the injections.