Mark Wetmore is OBSESSED with weight.

Nike $$ wrote:

You realize those comments were made in 1998. He may have changed his views just a little. Stop trying to stir up crap that's not there. Alberto got in trouble for a lot more then "weight comments" and his were a hell of a lot more recent. Alberto is also a lot more higher profile then Wetmore. Get a life.

Yep. I don't need to read any further than this. I was also shocked by Wetmore's comments when I read RWTB, and found them to be inappropriate. But I am also guessing that he changed since the late 90s too. And there's no comparison to AlSal who was far more abusive to his athletes than just his fixation on their weight.

Have you ever run in college? Every coach is obsessed with weight.

Yes, Mark Whetmore must now be canceled. I'm sure the twitter firing squad will take care of the details. Every athletic endeavor has physical requirements for optimum performance. If you are fat, you cannot run fast. It is not "shaming", it is a fact. Why is this so hard to comprehend?

Iron Bars wrote:

Yes, Mark Whetmore must now be canceled. I'm sure the twitter firing squad will take care of the details. Every athletic endeavor has physical requirements for optimum performance. If you are fat, you cannot run fast. It is not "shaming", it is a fact. Why is this so hard to comprehend?

this^^ Athletes of all sports are asked by their coaches to transform their bodies for optimal performance. Underweight happens to be optimal for distance running. I really don't see the problem.

my college coach's college coach apparently used to say, "when you look in the showers all you should see are ribs and p*ckers" so basically wetmore's comment but a little more raunchy. it's not exactly a rare sentiment.

did it at least partially give my college coach a lifelong low-grade eating disorder? absolutely. but he was fast.

he made us promise him that we would never get fat lmao. this was around 2010.

In my coaching career I am sure I've told at lease a dozen athletes they need to lose weight. It wasn't that big of a deal because they usually knew it as a well. Weight has tremendous affect on performance; I thought everyone knew that. With that said, I was cognizant of how I spoke to athletes coming off of injury, puberty, etc., but mentioning weight was no different than mentioning form, stretching, cooling down or anything else.

Regarding weight, I wasn't aware Wetmore forced his athletes to abuse un-prescribed prescription meds for off-label use, fraud the TUE system, administer supplements in an illegal manner then ordered them lie about it if asked, and shame them to their faces when they were already suffering from REDs and were already lean to high hell like Salazar did.

ComeOnNow wrote:

Have you ever run in college? Every coach is obsessed with weight.

This so this ^

Anyone who has seen Wetmore in person knows he practices what he preaches. Moreover, I've never seen a prominent CU runner look unhealthy thin. But ok, lets get him out of there and bring in a coach that lets runners find their own correct weight.

Could someone point me to these people who are claiming that weight has absolutely no effect on distance running performance, since so many of you seem to be arguing against that alleged talking point for some reason?

Iron Bars wrote:

Yes, Mark Whetmore must now be canceled. I'm sure the twitter firing squad will take care of the details. Every athletic endeavor has physical requirements for optimum performance. If you are fat, you cannot run fast. It is not "shaming", it is a fact. Why is this so hard to comprehend?

What exactly are you getting at? No one is disputing that being overweight is related to negative performance.

There is a difference between discussing weight/nutrition and performance with your college athletes, and discussing it with malice/contributing to eating disorders. Wetmore isn't canceled.

Look at Nico Young. That is him in those words.

He was not wrong...there are a few other quotes in the book that support his hypothesis related to training distance runners. One of my favorite parts is when he points out that Goucher could run 55 miles a week but rather than a 13:40's guy he is a 15:40's guy. Also, and I could be wrong because I took about a 20 year sabbatical from distance running I do not recall reading anything overtly negative about MW from any of his former runners the way we read article after article on Al Sal.

It is true for the elite runner. This is the same for weight based sports like boxing, wrestling or weight lifting. It has to be discussed properly with the athlete. Of course it is somewhat dangerous, as are many elite sports (auto racing, downhill skiing, etc)

My college coach told me Freshman year I needed to lose weight when I was close to 145. When I made Olympic trials I was around 130 lbs. Losing weight made a big difference. Running D1 for a top school is a competitive thing. Weight plays into performance and it is appropriate for a coach to discuss weight with runners. This is not a big deal.

Body weight matters a ton. More than training load in some respects. But any fat shaming in front of team is out of bounds as are comments to an athlete individually that are not based in factual data such as derisive comments to an athlete about being fat. Weighing athletes in front of their training group is NOT acceptable EVER. Shouting at these athletes in front of their training group after such weigh ins is NEVER acceptable. Telling athletes in front of their training partners to abstain from using birth control so as to keep weight down is a MAJOR HIPPA violation and violation of Safe Sport. Yet these are common at one major program that is finally under investigation and perhaps an end can be taken towards such practices and those who committed it and were complicit in it when athletes spoke up and were ignored or compliance buried the complaints. Tick tick. Times about up…….

Creepy old man wrote:

This book hasn't aged well. Gouch hurt his back busting up rocks on Wetmore's farm and was never the same. Ponce turned into a pedophile. Wetmore married one of his runners. Just a real creepshow that book is. Yuck.

Still a solid book about XC, this and Harriers.

The difference is that McDonnell says in that link that you need to recognize that there is a fine line and that sometimes they need to gain some weight. As for Wetmore, he doesn't pull any punches. His description of the ideal xc runner is over the top but not off that much. He's at least dealing with grown-ups, not high school kids still growing. But in reality a focus on weight per se is ineffective in contrast to a focus on training, sleeping well, eating well, getting stronger, etc., most of which help produce healthy weight and running effects without the destructive psychological and physical effects of pushing a low weight all the time, especially in women.

With regard to HIPAA, it can be violated only by health care providers and their business associates, plus sub-contractors.

"3. Who must comply with HIPAA?

HIPAA does not protect all health information. Nor does it apply to every person who may see or use health information. HIPAA only applies to covered entities and their business associates.

a. Covered entities

There are three types of covered entities under HIPAA.

Health care providers get paid to provide health care. Doctors, dentists, hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies, urgent care clinics, and other entities that provide health care in exchange for payment are examples of providers.

Health care providers must comply with HIPAA only if they transmit health information electronically in connection with covered transactions. Most providers transmit information electronically to carry out functions such as processing claims and receiving payment. Therefore, most providers are covered under HIPAA.

Health plans pay the cost of medical care.

The following are examples of health plans covered under HIPAA: health insurance companies, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), group health plans sponsored by an employer, government-funded health plans such as Medicare and Medicaid, and most other companies or arrangements that pay for health care.

Health care clearinghouses process information so that it can be transmitted in a standard format between covered entities. Clearinghouses often act as a go between for health care providers and health plans which means that they rarely deal directly with patients. For example, a clearinghouse may take information from a doctor and put it into a standard coded format that can be used for insurance purposes.

For more information on whether an entity is covered under HIPAA, HHS provides a helpful chart.

b. Business associates

What is a business associate? Health care providers, health plans, and health care clearinghouses are just a few of the players in the health care business. Covered entities hire or contract with people and companies to perform numerous services.

A "business associate" creates, receives, maintains, or transmits protected health information (PHI) on behalf of a covered entity or another business associate acting as a subcontractor."

https://privacyrights.org/consumer-guides/health-privacy-hipaa-basics