Kenyan marathon and mountain racer Mark Kangogo on Tuesday became the latest distance runner from the country to be sanctioned by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for allegedly breaching its anti-doping rules.
Nobody said anything about ultras. The label "MUT" is "Mountain-Ultra-Trail" and covers the realm of any distance race...be it a 33km mountain-trail race like SZ or a 106-mile race like UTMB....which are two of the most iconic mountain races in the world.
Often times MUT athletes run ultras in the mountains, but they also might run a half marathon trail race as well....
TMADDDHASFNE wrote: Sage is right. Lots of dopers in the Mountain Ultra Trail runner scene.
You're explanation is not only unnecessary it avoids the question I asked.
Lets not pretend that this is an example of "dopers in the Mountain Ultra Trail runner scene". Unless you'd like to answer the question I asked instead of pretend that the ULTRA in MUT doesn't mean what it says.
For the clueless people in this thread and the downvotes, perhaps you can explain how this Kenyan marathoner who had his trail racing debut this year getting popped is a good example of doping in the trail racing scene, ultra or otherwise?
When you say things like "doping in mountain ultra trail scene" the implication seems pretty obvious you are talking about top talent in the ultra trail community. Its a pretty broad accusation to make with no evidence and then you hold up a guy who just jumped onto the trails this year as an example of this?
Seems obvious to me you are referring to races like UTMB and WSER not having enough testing. Look I have been running ultras for a long time, I would love to see more testing as these races become more competitive etc... But making accusations with no evidence makes you look like a jackass.
Good. Any road runner that thinks they can move to trails, ultra distance or not, and get away with doping should know they can't. I'm more worried about guys like Kangogo doping and ruining the sport than I am guys like Jornet or Walmsley getting popped because I think the majority of MUT runners are clean.
I do not believe that on the roads where an elite field likely has less than 10 clean athletes and the rest just weren't caught yet. Even the pacers are getting popped on roads.
Yep. Sage can believe otherwise but most of us participating in ultras (not just including running races but volunteering A LOT of our time) know that the ultra scene is mostly clean. The expanded testing is mostly needed as runners from a traditional running background come over to the trail the scene. This is a clear example of that. NOT a clear example of top ultra trail athletes being doped.
Years ago there were endless threads with people defending Lance Armstrong and saying how impossible it was that he doped. Guess what? They were all wrong. I get it, you want to defend the community you identify with, and so you do what every Lance fan used to do. I mean, you do you - but the truth is, you don't actually know if any of the top ultra guys dope, you just don't believe they do. And I would guess, if you are being honest, you are basing that on how you feel - rather than on spending enough time with all the top ultra runners, including running your own testing program on them, to be able to say with some confidence that none of them dope.
But - why not explain the evidence you have - the first person knowledge you have - which is proof that no top ultra runner dopes. No hearsay, no speculation - your direct evidence that no top ultra runner dopes. I'm very interested.
I live near part of my country’s biggest ultra course and some of the Strava segment records which funnily enough are all from the 2018 race scream juiced to the gills.
Yep. Sage can believe otherwise but most of us participating in ultras (not just including running races but volunteering A LOT of our time) know that the ultra scene is mostly clean. The expanded testing is mostly needed as runners from a traditional running background come over to the trail the scene. This is a clear example of that. NOT a clear example of top ultra trail athletes being doped.
I've never said I think the majority of people in Mountain-Ultra-Trail running are doping. Far from it!
I think it's mostly clean actually as well....heck of a lot more clean than cycling or track.
All I know is that the sponsorships can be very lucrative (not just from a financial stand point but being able to quit your day job, get attention on social media and run in the most beautiful places in the world etc.). So big travel benefits, maybe a little prize money, bonuses, free gear....it's enough of a temptation for some to cheat (especially at the top end of the field). People cheat out of ego often it seems.
And I know how lax the testing is (compared to top level road marathon running). There are hardly any tests and they aren't usually under WADA protocol. And there certainly aren't any "surprise tests"
So even if 10% or 5% of the top guys are doping in the sport I'm going to be pretty upset. I've raced (and lost to) dopers on the roads. We've already seen a guy get popped at UTMB for EPO years ago. It's not just "roadie" converts moving into the trail scene...it's also those guys that are "mountain athletes" that like to cycle and do obscure (but expensive high end sports) like "Skimo" and other "FKT projects"....some probably don't even know WADA rules! And I'd bet there are dopers in pretty much all countries. And you certainly don't have to be very sophisticated or knowledgeable to dope and get away with it in MUT Running.....you know that a race *might* test and you can plan around it.
Despite a positive test in May 2022, Esther Chesang still competed and won Sierre Zinal in August due to a failure of communication by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya