Welcome to the life of an elite runner. Through all the highs and lows of running, I have kept coming back to the sport because I love it so much. This channel is my way of sharing that passion with the world and providing inspiration for working through tough workouts, injuries, mental health struggles, and anything else life throws our way. About me: Hi! I'm Allie O, a runner from Alaska who loves cooking, spending time with friends and family, and doing pretty much anything outdoors. I ran at Boise State University and then professionally for Brooks Running. During this time, I had a lot of success, winning 12 All-American honors, 3 NCAA D1 titles in the 3k steeplechase, and a spot on team USA at the 2019 World Championships. Despite my success, I was silently struggling with an eating disorder. In 2021, I decided to pursue treatment, be open about my battle, and take a step back from professional track. I am now dipping my toes back in the competitive waters...
“Diuretics can promote the excretion of fluids, which can be used to excrete other banned substances in the body, such as performance-enhancing drugs or illegal drugs. By using spironolactone, athletes may attempt to hide or obscure the presence of these substances during drug testing.”
However, as someone who took Spironolactone for 3 years to address cystic acne in my twenties, I want to believe that she’s really taking it for its intended medical purpose and that this was just a really stupid mistake/irresponsibility on her part.
Definitely. I've seen her with acne. And I've taken it orally and it cleared up my acne. Some people actually take it to thicken their hair. She most likely knew not to take it orally cause it's a diuretic but didn't know it was present to such a degree in a cream.
I assume she appealed(?). But it does bug me a little bit that she posts "honest" videos about other topics (mental health, eating disorder, injuries) but failed to just post an honest video shortly after failing the test.
She posted a video about how she was having a really hard time with some things but she couldn't discuss it. It was obviously this.
I personally don't care about this. But I do find it ironic that Spencer posted a big video about grey area stuff and TUEs a few weeks before this test. Talk about throwing stones from a glass house!
I doubt this has any real performance benefits. And it's pretty obvious from the times she ran before this (Gate River Run) that she wasn't doping.
Though this does make me wonder about whether other semi-elite running YouTubers get tested. On the one hand I don't see the point in doping if you're chasing a sub 3 marathon. On the other hand, if they feel pressure to outdo themselves and run faster to grow their channel, I can see the allure of doping.
I had to look her up because I hadn't heard her name in a while and was curious what she was up to since she hadn't been in the pro scene much since the last trials. I don't think I could find a better example of how horrid social media could be for a person's psyche than Allie O.
Regardless of whether this was just a dumb mistake or not, I think she would really benefit from taking a step away from the spotlight for a while. Especially after something like this...
Also, super bad look to get served this ban and still upload content to your (presumably) all-minor audience talking honesty and transparency, as if this was just never going to come to light.