72-yr-old Masters World and National Champ Busted - Dude was an all sorts of PEDs!!!

I have to ask an unpopular question here: if he’s taking testosterone under a doctor’s care, simply to keep his levels high as he ages, does it matter for a Masters competition?

Yes it is true that TRT is very performance enhancing. No one can deny it. But it’s Masters people. He’s not stealing a gold medal from Jakob, or a scholarship from the honest high school kid. He’s not playing second base for the Yankees while the guy who follows the rules is stuck in AA making peanuts.

Probably this guy wins very little money, and beats a lot of elderly men who are just there to have fun and drink beer afterwards. All I’m saying is, it just isn’t worth getting too excited about.

Personally, I am certain I have been beaten in Masters competition by men using testosterone. And I don’t waste a minute of my time caring. At this stage of my life I compete to challenge myself. Where I finish in the race is almost irrelevant.

TRT can't stop your body from ageing. You're caught up in the hype. Males of all ages have hang ups about their testosterone levels, you included. Man up and grow a pair.

I'm sorry, but cheating is cheating. It doesn't matter if it's MLB or beer league softball. Most of us have grown up playing sports and recognizing there are rules to be followed and a sense of fair play to aspire to. These are objective rules to follow, no matter your age or level.

As a masters runner myself, I fully realize the low stakes when compared to other levels of running. If the stakes are that low, why would some runners feel the need to use PEDs? It's because the stakes aren't that low at the individual level.

The more I thought about this story the other day, the more annoyed I became. Most of the masters runners I know started young in this sport and have continued for many years because they love the sport. Once a person starts to take PEDs, though, they prove they love themselves more than they love the sport.

I mean giving him a 50 meter head start isn’t a problem either. What’s the harm? He beats other people and breaks the rules, who cares right? Maybe we let him ride a bicycle?

If I found out my opponent in beer league softball was on TRT, I can tell you I wouldn’t care. Few people would.

Do you want to drug test the over-60 men’s church softball league? Probably not. Why? Because it just isn’t worth the time and money. You don’t care that much. Neither does anyone else.

You get my point - there is a level of competition that we don’t drug test, or even rigidly enforce the rules. Because it doesn’t matter, and normal people don’t care.

Look, someday I’ll almost certainly get on TRT. It’s available, so why not? I won’t do it to go up a few places at whatever old folks competition, to win the zero prizes they offer. I’ll do it to feel better, look better, and continue to be active as I age. I don’t want to have to give up all organized competition for life, including beer league softball. It just seems a little legalistic to me.

If I were getting into organized mixed martial arts, I would embrace drug testing at any age and at every level of competition, then TRT use could put people in actual danger,. But 70 year olds jogging a 5k is not that important.

Its not about medals or prize money. I just want to know how I stand against my peers. If those taking PEDS or TRT would just say so, I'd be fine with it because I would know they are not the standard to which I should be comparing myself.

You could ask them if their balls shrink to the size of peas.

Pretty sure we are thinking of the same people. I was surprised to see them on the start list too.

It is a double hit against clean masters, since if you scrupulously keep your fitness into old age, it is written off or even resented as "obviously doping". I have been at a level where a few seconds would be the difference between a national title and a handful of nothing, and it corrodes the faith in fellow competitors to have this crap going on.

Says a lot about American society. Phony, fake, where cheating, or taking short cuts to get ahead is far too common.

It comes down to a personal medical decision. He should use these substances if the outcome is an improvement in his quality of life without degrading the quality of life of others. My competition is me as I try to keep the 5Ks under 30 minutes for as long as possible. So far so good and drug free at age 64. Guys my age using TRT have probably beaten me in races, but why bother squawking to the RD about it. Extensive testing would drive up the cost of local races.

My reaction to this story was bewilderment. Is he so insecure that he needs the boost of PEDs to compensate for something in his life that he has lacked for 72 freaking years ?

Getting picked last when choosing sides for a pickup game of home run derby or tag football as a kid in East Boston is an amusing memory for me. I can't help but think that PED use in middle aged and elderly athletes is a desperate means to achieve sports glory they never experienced in their youth.

I agree. Much like you, I don’t particularly care what he’s using. But I agree it is a very odd choice, and a trifle pathetic to get juicy in order to lay waste to the 70 year old division.

The upper age range of the baby boomers is late 70s, so the complications are probably already happening.

He won his age group.

What a scumbag!!!

A college professor

He’s probably woke too

He was woke - until 2019 when he decided fighting for the environment was a lost cause and why not dope like the others.

They need to delete his records. I am willing to bet he has been dopping for a while

I live near Robert. I am a master 70-74 runner. I live at 7500 feet up so do not need drugs to help me. He cheated . The rules are the rules for everyone. Looking forward to 3 years with out him to worry about. If you have to use drugs to race you should quit.