An Interesting Find: Majority of Dopers Busted by USADA Are Masters

HRT is hormone replacement therapy

But if you actually have asthma and not just using an inhaler to cheat then you have a prescription and a TUE and thus aren't "testing positive" for something you are banned from. Asthma is a real condition and not something made up like low T or something.

No surprise at all, highly predictable. Have you met top masters competitors? Puny narcissists, to a man.

Because of the money involved, my idea of testing all (or any?) of the masters will never happen, but it would be fascinating to see what would happen if you set up a ruse in a national masters meet. Like put a few white tents near the shoot and tell all the participants at the at the gun that comprehensive drug testing will be waiting for them at the finish line. And then just sit back and see what happens. I don't think the race would turn into the the Delhi State 100m finals, but in a larger championship, I would not be shocked to see some guys getting lost out on the course.

This is exactly what happened at Masters Nationals in Sacramento. Out of the two biggest drug cheats in the field, one declared they would be there the day before and didn't show up and the other dropped out very early in the race to avoid the testing.

Wow, that's crazy. Now if we could just get the rest of the dopers to live in fear like that. Too many places where people can safely cheat.

If they could only put "possible drug testing" in their lingo somewhere but it might scare some of the non-racers out there to enjoy the event.

Master is just another word for "Kenyan."

This is correct. But I wonder how many people who start running later in life, who haven't followed the sport for decades, who don't read running websites or belong to clubs know that their inhalers could get them banned or what a TUE is.

Here is my moral stance on this: if you are competing for any serious age group award or time, you cannot cross the line at all. If you are running a 3:30 or 4:00 marathon at age 60, good for you, take whatever you want.

Comments such as yours remind me I am doing the right thing here. You have long ago given yourself away as the vainest poster on this site.

Based on several buddies, I'd agree that many of the 3:30 - 4:00 hour 60+ crowd don't know. 1/3, 1/2, 2/3? But I know the vast majority of the sub-3 60+ runners do know. And I'd hope that USADA is testing the sub-3 group, not the sub-4 group.

Some of them are undoubtedly here.

First, 10 is a ridiculously small sample size and you say it's only the last/most recent 10. You need a much bigger sample size over a larger period to make any sort of conclusion.

But like others have said, any masters runner (with a few exceptions) is probably getting popped for a prescription or something they bought at GNC or Amazon. It never occurred to him/her that it might contain a banned substance. To them, it's just a protein powder, a vitamin supplement, an ED drug, etc.

Love you Rich, but you are so naive. The only masters that are tested are essentially the age group national champions. And even that's rare. But those guys absolutely know that the substances are banned. These aren't hobby joggers running 20 miles per week. They're guys who train at a super high level, both volume and intensity, and fly to national championships.

There is a new national record holder (I won't say the age or distance) who is pretty open about his TRT. He rationalizes it but we know he's a cheat.

As a 56 y/o male semi-competitive marathoner who does not use TRT but who is experiencing the multiple manifestations of male aging, I have been curious as to how common testosterone use is amongst my peers. Never really considered that the guys leaving me behind were juiced.

I don't know what age group people get tested. You sort of answered the question I asked.

One of the guys caught (Qualls) is in his early 70s. In theory they'll test any age group, and the TRT usage that I know of mostly starts in the 50s. Like I said, these aren't naive runners taking it for health who happen to get caught. They're among the best in the country and aren't oblivious to the rules.

If you had a documented history of asthma, and had just not gotten a TUE, I'm sure that the ban from that would be quite minor, if they even bothered to institute one.