No Surprise, Ed Whitlock does it again.

point by point:

list? why the hell does he owe you a list? that's between him and his doctor and maybe his god.

no different? what the hell are YOU on? i suspect ed's appearance fee was a little south of usain bolt's 300k+ in stockholm. i'll go even a little further out on this limb: i doubt ed's making a living, or cheating anyone else out of theirs, with his assault on the record books.

know any 80yos? yes. not sure the relevance here. i know some 50 yos too, some fast, some fat, some whom i've paced, some with pacemakers.

normal therapeutic drugs? you really have no idea, besides your "hunch," what drugs can or cannot do. plenty of freaks of nature out there, from tony young to nolan shaheed to ed. who knows, other than them, what they can or can't do.

why care about ed? good question; i doubt he cares about you.

biased? again, not sure what willie gault has to do with ed whitlock. personally i'm not biased towards either of these guys, but i AM biased against people who make completely unfounded accusations publicly--and anonymously.

where is the evidence? good question--didn't i just ask that? don't answer a question with question.

goose/gander: despite it's alliterative allure, this adage has been scientifically proven to be false:

ed may be a folk hero. ben johnson is canadian. big difference.

finally, why on god's green earth does ed have to "provide" us with anything other than subjecting himself to the rules of competition, which include drug testing at national and world championships? oops, i answered a question with a question. sorry.

that's my story and i'm sticking to it...

Sprint Geezer wrote:

I need sleep, I'm working too late...ugh

wow, i didn't know posting on letsrun was a paying job. sign me up.

also, you're not only working late, you're talking to yourself...

Shut it, Sprint Weezer:

"Whitlock began running again during his 40s, and in 1979, at 48, won the 45–49 world championship at 1500m with a 4:09.6. He also recorded a 2:31:23 marathon that same year in Hanover, Germany."

http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=5496

Jacked the Ripper wrote:

Shut it, Sprint Weezer:

"Whitlock began running again during his 40s, and in 1979, at 48, won the 45–49 world championship at 1500m with a 4:09.6. He also recorded a 2:31:23 marathon that same year in Hanover, Germany."

http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=5496

As you point out, what SG seems to be ignoring is the fact that Ed's been at it for a long time. Ed has shown amazing durability; PEDs don't enhance durability...in fact, they probably would have killed him by now. If there is any lesson learned, it is that if you have a decent amount of talent, and can commit to a consistent training regimen, you can compete for a long time. Consistency and durability (OK, and maybe good genes, too) are the keys and are Ed's legacy (IMHO).

Best of luck (not that he needs it) in today's 1500m. He's already run 5:48 indoors this year, which should be listed as the 80-84 world record, hopefully, he can improve upon that.

Ran across this story from a couple weeks ago in the Canadian newspaper, National Post,

Interesting read.

Ben Johnson is a folk hero?

Quite possibly the dumbest post on LR ever. And that is a serious effin accomplishment.

To put this in perspective for myself, I have a PR of 31:05 when I was 24.

At age 32 I jumped into a 10K on a hot July 4th without doing much running that year and ran 43 minutes, slower than Ed at age 80.

Now I am 40 and can easily break 40 because I run 3-4 times a week.

But I don't see how I could do that for another 40 years.

At half his age, I need to put in regular running if I want to keep up with him.

(Obviously Srint Geezer is talking about drugs to mess with people, but it is actually a compliment to insuate that there must be something else going on)

Congratulations to Ed. He's an inspiration. Also, he ran that time in the heat, not ideal. A superb performance.

Ed is a true running God, his times for his age are mind blowing, and his times for ANY age are extremely good. Amazing.

However I don't find this quote that appealing:

"“I don’t actively dislike running, but I don’t suffer from runner’s high or any of that kind of stuff. Training’s something to be endured rather than be enjoyed, but I’m always very happy when it’s over.”

If the best that one can say about something that one puts so much effort into is you don't hate it, I am not sure how positive that is. I know one has to suffer at times to be a great athlete, but I think one should enjoy parts of the journey and the effort to make it worthwhile. It shouldn't ONLY be about results.

David Rudisha would have a hard time breaking 12.0 out of blocks for the 100m! He is not a sprinter, it takes POWER to run under 12.0 out of blocks!

Joking aside - Wejo, ban this clown.

If Ed is rocking 100% age graded times at 80, how fast could he have been if he'd been running in his 20's? He is a serious talent with a serious work ethic. Congrats to him for his newest bag of WR's.

Ed JUST CRUSHED the world record 1500 in 5:48.93, beating the previous record of 5:59.11, and the next competitor by about 24 seconds! 6:12 for 2nd place ain't too bad either for an 80 year old!

GREAT JOB ED!! You is DA MAN!!

Sprint Geezer wrote:

All I'm asking for is a list.

As others have already posted, you ain't gonna get one.

Instead of just pontificating about things you acknowledge you don't know anything about, maybe you could do a little research.

Have a start with the WMA rules:

Note section 2 on their anti-doping policy.

While unlike open world records, masters don't have to pass the whiz quiz for them to be accepted, there is a non-zero chance Ed could be or has been tested in Sacramento.

If so, he'd provide doping control with his list of medications (but again, they aren't going to give that list to you).

If he's taking anything he shouldn't be, that'll come out in the test and you can rest easy.

Sir Lance-alot wrote:

However I don't find this quote that appealing:

"“I don’t actively dislike running, but I don’t suffer from runner’s high or any of that kind of stuff. Training’s something to be endured rather than be enjoyed, but I’m always very happy when it’s over.”

If the best that one can say about something that one puts so much effort into is you don't hate it, I am not sure how positive that is. I know one has to suffer at times to be a great athlete, but I think one should enjoy parts of the journey and the effort to make it worthwhile. It shouldn't ONLY be about results.

I don't know Ed personally, so any thoughts I have really don't bear any weight. I initially came off with a similar feeling, which is why I called it an "interesting" (as opposed to "great") read. Then I thought about it a little more, and accept that this is his honest take on his own personal experience and his commitment to this endeavor. If it works for him, great. Wouldn't work for me, but then again, I'll not likely be an age-group stud at 80 like he is either (not to mention all the preceding decades.)

He may also be trying to dissuade people from the notion that his success comes easy to him. I know people who are writers that write because they must; it is somehow in their DNA. That doesn't necessarily mean that they find writing easy. I personally know one well-known author, who finds the whole creative process of writing to be incredibly tedious...but they gotta do it (passion does not necessarily mean enjoyment.) The satisfaction comes from the result. Perhaps, for Ed, running is no different.

I have met Ed several times. We talked for some time at each meeting. I have also seen him race several times.

Ed was blessed with the genetics and body of a runner. His hard work and his willingness to do it, his keen eye for what he needs to do and of when to back off and his patience have made him the best distance runner over 70 and 80 to date.

Ed does not need illegal drugs.

This crap about calling someone a drug cheat is getting out of hand (and thank you Socal cush for your responses).

I think the fact that Ed is doing 3 hour runs daily may play the biggest role in why he runs so fast at his age....he also runs at a slow fat-burning pace (if i understand his training correctly).

Orono wrote:

Watch for Ed's WR run tomorrow morning- M80 1500 Race at Sacramento World Masters meet. Prediction? 5:37.

close....5:49

Sprint Geezer wrote:

I need sleep, I'm working too late...ugh

i hate you

Sprint Geezer wrote:

I wish he'd make some sort of statement one way or another.

If you want, I can ask him for his pee next time a see him and send it to you.

Interest Ed wrote:

Ben Johnson is a folk hero?

Quite possibly the dumbest post on LR ever. And that is a serious effin accomplishment.

Hell ya, Ben is a folk hero. They had to wake him up 30 minutes before the 100m final in Seoul - how bad ass is that? He was one cool competitor when the chips were down.

Considering that 5 or 6 of the other finalists in the 1988 100m final (everyone except Calvin Smith) were hopped up on something, the playing field was quite level.

Dumbest post ever on LR? Not by a long shot. Perhaps the dumbest follow up comment on a post, though.