I always felt that Ed Whitlock was clean and I get similar vibes about Tommy. Here are my reasons.
1) He ran a 2:13 marathon in his prime, in the non-supershoe era. He clearly has talent.
2) He's been very open about his past struggles with alcoholism and newfound sober living the best several years. He may not have ever reached his full potential due to alcohol.
3) He comes across as a very low key, humble guy who does not possess the classic "look at me" narcissistic traits you so often see in the obvious age group cheaters.
4) From interviews it is obvious the guy just loves running and does not seem to be in it for reasons other than that.
5) His appearance gives no indication of PEDs unlike many (not all) typical age group cheaters.
I could very well be wrong and nothing above proves or disproves anything, but I'm going with clean until proven otherwise.
With respect, I don't think you really know what aging does to an athlete, and especially by the age of 65. He is only twenty or so minutes slower than his best in his prime. I don't buy it. Whether you think he is a nice guy is irrelevant; dopers don't have horns on their foreheads.
Tommy - I think I gotta go with Armstronglivs on this, your time is too good to be true.
In this day & age the burden is on you to prove you are not on PEDS. That’s a big ask but as someone who loves running I would think you would be happy to do it & set a standard for others.
so what is your cutoff for doping suspicion? (timewise related to the current age world record)
and do you think Ed Whitlock doped?
I don't think Whitlock doped. His performances were undoubtedly exceptional but I didn't find them unbelievable for an athlete of his age. He didn't run times like a much younger man - he ran like a supremely fit runner of his age whose body allowed him to do it.
I don't see Hughes the same way. He has scarcely slowed since his peak - 2:36 in his mid sixties isn't exceptional, it is incredible. He is only about twenty minutes slower than at his peak yet he is the same margin faster than Whitlock was - more than twenty minutes - when Whitlock was only a few years older than Hughes. As I said, that is too good to be true for me to find that believable.
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