Masters star Kevin Castille - whom many LRCers thought was on drugs - is banned for testing positive for a steroid

Smoove wrote:

I agree that I don’t want to see the guy destitute, but he deserves to be a pariah in the running community.

This wasn’t a lapse in judgment. He cheated others for years, and cost those people (me and regular poster Jewbacca among them) money or podium finishes.

He shouldn’t go to prison (for this transgression). He shouldn’t be some lambasted that he ends up going the Frank Meza route, but there’s no place for him in the running community.

There are other rumors about him that I suspect might make some of us feel like he should be destitute if they are true, but I don’t have a good enough basis to say they are true.

I feel with you. However soon the drug cheat apologists will come and claim he doped only once, to keep his former form.

I never followed running enough to know who this is, but this story is so obvious it's hilarious. It really does show how easy it is to not get caught.

I have to wonder wrote:

casual obsever wrote:

Finally.

Also, more good news after the Stevens ban.

Drug cheats out!

Can Paula possibly be next?

Who is Stevens?

can't stop real runners wrote:

Damnit Kevin. I really looked up to you. This is disheartening. Make it right. I know you are reading this thread. Apologize.

Deceiving people and ripping people off for years can't be "made right" merely by apologizing

LMAO

I don't care what your parents do(see user name). Apologies do work. If only whites would take this advice.

shootpost wrote:

The true crime here is he got caught.

Taking a common anabolic steroid that is super easy to detect and only testing at nationals? And you still got caught?!?!?

Come on man a few hours of googling could have prevented that.

No the true crime is him cheating, GTFOH with that BS

This drug bust isn’t too surprising. His times are crazy fast for a masters runner, and he clearly has *experience* with pharmaceutical interventions.

MehConfused wrote:

Cost you money or podium finishes?????? What????????

Cost me money at Gate River Run where I got 3rd place masters Money instead of 2nd place masters, and at Houston where I got bumped out of masters money by one place with a 4th place finish.

Smoove wrote:

MehConfused wrote:

Cost you money or podium finishes?????? What????????

Cost me money at Gate River Run where I got 3rd place masters Money instead of 2nd place masters, and at Houston where I got bumped out of masters money by one place with a 4th place finish.

I'd sue the guy!

Smoove wrote:

MehConfused wrote:

Cost you money or podium finishes?????? What????????

Cost me money at Gate River Run where I got 3rd place masters Money instead of 2nd place masters, and at Houston where I got bumped out of masters money by one place with a 4th place finish.

Maybe....maybe not. Perhaps you could tell us more. IF Castile were clean, do you think he could possibly still beat you? Not taking sides here, as it sounds as if you have a legitimate grievance. I think a clean Castile is still one of the best masters runners in the country, but I am just guessing.

Finally. The dude was posting ridiculous times for his age.

Can’t really say for sure, but he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt as a proven cheater.

The times for which we can feel confident he was clean - high school and college - were fairly pedestrian.

drtoneill wrote:

So no chance of getting Steve Moneghetti re-instated as the 45+ WR holder @ 10k?

I doubt Steve would care that much. He no doubt was robbed of bigger prizes by drug cheats than that one. He is probably pleased that he has had a great career can go to the bathroom and look in the mirror and not see a drug cheat.

As a Masters sprinter/ hurdler (40-44), always disappointing to read news like this. Regarding comments about the pervasiveness of cheating in Masters track, at least as far as I can tell on the sprints side, I'm guessing the percentages are relatively low (but I'm sure there are some out there). There are so few sprinters / jumpers / hurdlers still competing past age 25 in the non-elite circuit that just showing up and staying healthy is the big thing. I talk to a lot of Masters sprinters and not once have I ever heard anyone talking about banned substances / supplements. Not saying it's not out there--I'm sure it is, but because there is no $$ to be won, and no road race glory to be had, I think it's a bit of a different world from those running longer distances. On a related point -- I've been hurdling every year since 1993, and I would second Smoove's point that to PR in your 40s is rare (and at least cause for a deeper look). From my peak speed in college and post-college, my average m/s speed is 90% of what it was and my 400m and 400m Hurdles times are both 5-6 seconds slower. Part of this is due to lack of training time (lots of work, 2 kids, all the usual stuff that comes with life). But even if I had the luxury of training full time, my guess is that I'd be at least 3-4 seconds off my 400m bests. There is just an extra gear that I don't have anymore. That said, still love it and will hurdle until my body says no. Hope to see more Masters sprinters out there once COVID clears!

Smoove wrote:

Setting open PRs in your 40S is rightfully going to make people ask questions.

I am one of those “fresh body” guys. Didn’t run in high school, walked on in college, left the scene for the most part until just before 40.

I was able to come back and have a great masters career, but if you look at my best times In my primary race (5k), I was a minute slower in my 40s than in my early 20s. Those times lined up very well from an age grading perspective though.

So while open PRs or huge jumps in age grades performance for younger masters athletes aren’t absolute evidence of cheating, they should certainly make people take a closer look at the athlete.

Pictures of the race.

http://www.runningprof.com/2019/05/competitive-races-and-fast-times-mark.html?m=1

Well I'm glad it's a master aged competitor instead of one of the top young guys. I would say another star ruined because of this stupid testing where no one is really clean and everyone has some kind of advantage even if they weren't on steroids. Thus I'm thankful that track doesn't canabalize one of their young stars like they're known to do.

Smoove wrote:

Setting open PRs in your 40S is rightfully going to make people ask questions.

I am one of those “fresh body” guys. Didn’t run in high school, walked on in college, left the scene for the most part until just before 40.

I was able to come back and have a great masters career, but if you look at my best times In my primary race (5k), I was a minute slower in my 40s than in my early 20s. Those times lined up very well from an age grading perspective though.

So while open PRs or huge jumps in age grades performance for younger masters athletes aren’t absolute evidence of cheating, they should certainly make people take a closer look at the athlete.

Does this sound like an admission by Smoove? That is my interpretation.

I'm terribly disappointed. He is a nice, humble guy, albeit aloof. I really wanted him to be for real: his physique and smooth form made me hope he was just very resilient against injury and aging.

I actually confronted him about some of his red flags once. He'd race in a jersey from a local running store - a small, new store that was definitely not giving him anything besides a free jersey and maybe last year's shoes - and I asked him why he didn't have any other sponsors. He said he wasn't a big enough name - but here he is setting records, and some random Instagram influencer can get a free pair of Brooks shoes in their mailbox every month. When I asked why he didn't train with a group, he said he did workouts with the kids he coached. His isolation just made me wonder if he was hiding something, but I shrugged it off because it just seemed to be his nature.

I know a few guys out money finishing behind him. That's kind of crappy. But overall I'm mostly just let down. I really wanted to believe he was clean.

I'm mad at you, Kevin!