Reyes Esteves, Spain, 47 years old, former Euro 1500 Champion (3:30), runs 28:56/10km in Spain

55+ Martin Fiz 31:40. Martin is a former Spanish Euro marathon champion monster, 2:08:00, and many trophies, Euro and World.

What astonishes me is all these alleged "former dopers" still running well into old age it doesn't make sense according to health protocols. I've always heard the refrained that taking EPO and other performance enhancing drugs will have negative effects on health long term but this doesn't seem to be the case with these Spanish Monsters.

If EPO levels are too high the body will produce too many red blood cells which can thicken the blood, leading to clotting, heart attack and stroke.

Estevez, Fiz, Rey, and their cohorts all seem (at least most) to enjoy good health in late age, defying the odds. If they doped, it might have been under strict control for a limited time.

Too many unanswered questions and conundrums.

I heard Cacho now weighs around 100kg and is morbidly obese. Heard the same thing about Carlos Lopes in Portugal. But they're both still kicking.

There have been at least 3 scientific studies that have found that EPO has significant anti-aging effects. I've posted them all here before.

Sorry missed those. Links please.

Same with HGH, I had an interesting conversation years ago with a relatively elderly power lifter. He was saying that when using hgh wounds and cuts would repair almost instantly. He could train the way he had in his 20s. His hair, skin, nails were in better condition. He said that it was used widely amongst Hollywood stars as an anti aging tool

en.m.wikipedia.org

Fabi%C3%A1n_Roncero

Link:en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabi%C3%A1n_Ro...

Do you folks remember this Monster from late 90s, Fabian Roncero. I saw, on Insta, he's still going strong, still slim and fit.

Seems that taking these products like HGH, EPO, and other performance enhancing products does not necessarily mean the athletes will suffer from bad health when they age, as evidenced by all these Spanish Monsters still going strong in their early 50s and 60s. Obviously if they did cross the line, they probably had good medics who advised them on the correct dosages to avoid problems later on and long term.

Ironically, Fabian Roncero is now the owner and CEO of a multi-million Euro fitness centre in Madrid Spain promoting health, wellness and longevity. Not a bad sideline for a former "alleged doper."

This is why I think we should be careful about accusing people without true evidence or foundation.

Unfortunately, not all the reviews about Fabian Roncero's gym are positive and here's a quote and a review from the website from one customer who's obviously not very satisfied. (Translated from Spanish).

"The pool facilities are good, it is its biggest attraction, and for the price of €35 it is good. The trainers are friendly and brighten up the atmosphere. The rest, bathrooms, machine area, etc. are the worst I have seen, very old, in poor condition, several do not work and it is always saturated with people.
The worst thing, without a doubt, is that it does not seem to have a capacity limit and it is always crowded. You literally have to queue to use a machine, even now in the middle of August.
The capacity should be regulated and entry should not be allowed indistinctly.
The women who attend the reception should receive training in customer orientation. Either they always have a bad day, or they are like that and I have a hard time understanding how they have been hired for a position facing the public. They are not shy when it comes to showing their disgust at having to serve you, their bad gestures and sarcastic faces, especially the dark-haired girl at the main entrance."

If you happened to touch a doorknob or accidentally drink out of the same glass as him, make sure you don’t get tested. Once a doper, always a doper. Part of the dirtiest era of Spanish sport in history.

Not true in the least. Armstrong is still alive. Cacho is still alive. MANY, many others are still alive. Manipulation of blood values and hormones is easy and can be done safely, especially if done by actual physicians. Ask Drs Ferrari and Fuentes.

You’re highly mistaken- on multiple counts.

Impressive.

Once it has left the system as such the long term effect of relatively short term use would not be huge in theory

They didn't develop a good EPO test until 2000 (improved by 2005 along with ABP in 2009), so yeah, many strong runners from this era will be doubted.

Reyes ran a similar time one year earlier, 3.30.87, and the race didn't seem crazy suspicious to me. He had the easiest heat times of the medalists, 341 and 338. His surge was spread out over almost 200m, not too onerous, though possibly a little amped from the home crowd. Getting into medal position by the bell is a sound tactic. I think he had no illusions about beating ElG. Ngeny was patient and waited for the backstraight to pass. This is not meant to prove he's innocent of doping, just that it seemed a possible race outcome for someone with lesser medal potential. I was entertained, thanks for digging this up!

I've spoken briefly with Reyes Estevez through Instagram and he told me he's super careful with his diet. Spanish former greats seem more attuned to diet compared with many Anglos.

David Slater (Bingley) former Yorkshire and England international told me that he had to do intermittent fasting to lose the weight accumulated over the years.

Sounds like he's still quite dedicated to running. If this race is legit (someone said it was downhill) they will have to update his IAAF profile, his fastest 10k is 29:59 from 2008!

Everyone with half a brain knows Reyes Estevez doped. Like Fermin Cacho and bloody Johann Mühlegg everyone in Spain was super doped. Is this even an argument?

Reyes probably just took what people did but is a large talent with wide range. 28:56 is a joke compared to 3:30, he did what he did.

Probably just still likes running, live with it neffews.

Thoughts go somewhere. They don't just disappear.