Rachel Forsyth: article on her ED & recovery

Good question. My guess is that high school coaches would be reluctant to get involved and the parents look the other way, especially if their daughter is running well and is in contention for a scholarship.

Some of the top high school distance females still have the body of a child. Quite concerning, especially the ones that are 17/18 years old. The runner is not taking in enough calories to allow her body to go through puberty.

The part about parents is really sad. I would never sacrifice the health of my child for a possible scholarship.

Really? What would you say to the thousands of parents of guys on football scholarships?

PV was previously a swimmer (they carry more fat than runners), and was also into la crosse (where being small is not necessarily an advantage), into and may not have really been into running and buckled-down until she was running on a college scholarship. So the before-after pics of PV do not mean she has an ED.

To my knowledge, Michigan does just fine with recruiting. They recruit more out of state because people out of the state actually want to go to Michigan.

Coaches often will alert the parents of any concerns, and it's on the parents to get the kid help. The coach can assist, but if they tried to "fix" the athlete themselves that could lead to some heavy liability implications. Coaches serve more as a liaison, encouraging athletes to continue with their help they're getting and talking them through their issues. Coaches are always aware of an athlete's health, but not all of them have the desire to help the kid first.

Also, some of these kids have been dealing with EDs since middle school and may already have a support system set up. It's not something you fix in two weeks. It takes YEARS to correct behavior. It's just a lot more layered and complicated than somebody from the outside would understand.

I agree. Its pretty astonishing transformation though and does make you concerned. Let alone in someone who is injured all the time.

I get that, its a big country. but it feels more acute when its 2 national champs across the street...literally across the street from the athletic campus where your parents work and or ran. Gotta up that recruiting game!!!

wtf is wrong with you?

Yay! More glorifying of eating disorders in fast runners. Nobody is going to copy this to get results and later regret it! /s

I would not encourage my child to play football at all. The money isn't worth the head trauma. YMMV.

It is a little harder to see it when you are with the person every day than when you see them every 3 months and that 15lb weight loss is obvious. The line between healthy racing weight and being underweight is fine. Same thing as guessing if someone is just under fueling by a couple hindered calories versus having some issues with food.

Perhaps these kids want to go somewhere else, just for the experience of going elsewhere. Should Irene Riggs have stayed in Morgantown (WVU) rather than go to Stanford? No because it is Stanford (over-hyped IMO). Perhaps RF wanted to go somewhere different than her current address, even if Michigan gave her a good offer. I often tell my athletes to go elsewhere (good University in my town with good coaching) to get different life experiences.

Michigan can be tough to get a lot of scholarship money out of. I coached a boy a decade ago who was offered 30% off a 1.50 800m his junior year. He ran 1.47 (and 3.45) at the end of his Senior year, but had already decided to go elsewhere (full ride) before these performances - then went on to make literally every NCAA 800m final (but his last, injured), so Michigan kind of dropped the ball here. So timing may also be part of the equation. In fact a HS girl I coached signed very late (July) this year with a Big10 school as she ran a 2.08 then, and something opened up for her. So this can be the problem with signing early if you then run much faster later in your Senior year (which really should be the case). I know of a girl at EMU, who hadn't got a great resume when she signed, but went on to run 2.08/4.21 in the summer, so might have got better offers later at higher profile schools.

I have a similar reaction. Eating disorders are "contagious." As much as people want to draw attention to the problem, we'd probably be better off telling more stories about successful women who don't have EDs. If I were a competitive young woman, I'd look at all of the stories about runners with EDs and come to the conclusion that it's normal.

Before I started running, I heard that it's common for runners to miss a period when running high mileage. I was shocked to learn that I could run 80-90 miles a week and maintain a regular cycle. Girls need to know that you can eat a normal diet, run fast, and still get a period.

It cost money for the producers of the content that you're stealing and proliferating to create and distribute it. However, you think you're special and deserve to spread their hard work and incurred expenses for free.

You're a disgusting thief.

Echoing this post- I doubt anything is "wrong" with recruiting at UM. Sometimes it is hard to follow along in other people's footprints. For RF to follow her mom (Big 10 Champ, All-American), dad (NCAA champ) and sister to the University of Michigan, which is literally across the street from her high school, may be a bit too close to home.

Good for RF and wishing her the best through her recovery and college career-

Technically the OP is not a thief as US copyright law gives leeway when someone is using content for purposes of commentary. this falls under fair use. And maybe a few folks will subscribe to Detroit Free Press now as a result of their good reporting that otherwise wouldn’t know about it. Just sayin’