I had heard Bekana Daba took a stop in a porta-potty and still ran 2:07:04 at the Houston Marathon. I didn't realize his stop was with about a quarter mile to go.
Seems like at that point you would just go all the way to the finish as he said he was just urinating.
So to anyone watching the race, how long was he in there? He still ran 2:07:04 with the break. What did the announcers say?
I heard it was a planned stop-- he was Gallowizzing.
just a guess, he was uncomfortable and had to go badly and he did not want to finish with the media swarming him and he would have to leave to go to the bathroom, and then the media could label him as rude not wanting to give an interview.
also he said if not for the rain he thinks he would have gone under 2:06, and i am guessing he thinks being age 22 wether he stops or not, this probably wont be a lifetime personal best and he had the race won anyway.
i am just making guesses, no way of really knowing.
Were any members of the media covering him when he stepped off the course? They must have been really confused, especially since it was right near the finish.
Pics?
I don't know, I think I'd rather piss on the finish line in front of everyone instead of stopping.
So strange. I can't imagine how bad someone would have to urinate that they couldn't run one more minute, although I see what the poster above is saying about not wanting to be in discomfort during the post-race. As winner it would likely a long while before he would have got into the porta-johns post-race.
If it was dropping a deuce, now, I could understand...
Well, as the winner he would be immediately escorted by a member of the drug testing staff until he completed his tests. This usually takes some time because the athlete is dehydrated and has to drink water supplied by the escort until he is able to produce urine. In Daba's case he could have gone through drug testing right away, which would have been a relief I'm sure. By stopping a few hundred meters from the finish he drained his system, then would have had to replenish it with clean water before going on to drug testing. Is this suspicious at all? Are there any PEDs with that short a lifespan? I started another thread asking this question but it was swiftly deleted, unfortunately. I'm not accusing him of anything, just asking whether there are any drugs which could be effective and disappear over that short a time span.
No, there are not.
If it was raining, why didn't he just go in his shorts?
I mean, no one would really know.
I'm surprised no one has brought up the point that he ducked into a porta-potty right before he was going to have his piss tested.
enquiring minds wrote:
I started another thread asking this question but it was swiftly deleted, unfortunately. I'm not accusing him of anything, just asking whether there are any drugs which could be effective and disappear over that short a time span.
Sorry it got deleted. It's a legitimate question and should be allowed to be discussed.
We've always believed that by letting drug questions be asked we help keep the sport clean.
However, if there was a drug with a short lifespan and someone took it, I doubt they would be confident they'd have such a lead they could take a pit stop and still win.
Oh please! He had to go. This could NOT possibly be connected to anything suspicious!
Fred Savage wrote:
I'm surprised no one has brought up the point that he ducked into a porta-potty right before he was going to have his piss tested.
Yeah, weird that no one brought it up before you. Odd.
Now, I will state that I did not witness Daba's alleged urination, but I bet I can describe it. It involved a shaft, a head, couple of balls, and some pubic hair, probably braided, with glitter on it.
There. Am I right? I'm right, aren't I? Oh my god, how'd he know?!
Dave Cha-P wrote:
Now, I will state that I did not witness Daba's alleged urination, but I bet I can describe it. It involved a shaft, a head, couple of balls, and some pubic hair, probably braided, with glitter on it.
There. Am I right? I'm right, aren't I? Oh my god, how'd he know?!
Hey, let's not humiliate Daba by comparing him with Michael Jackson.
If he had waited until he finished and then tried to get away quickly to piss before drug control folks got to him, wouldn't he be in trouble?
1) Does anyone know how long he took stopping (I'm guessing 30 seconds to a minute)?
2) Maybe he was just taunting the field, you know, saying, "Man, I'm so good I can stop and take a piss and STILL win a big city marathon going away!" Such behavior is not unknown in high school cross-country meets. If so, good job!
At 24 mi, he was on pace to go just under 2:06, assuming he kept the pace up over the hardest two miles. I think he probably tightened up after the pee stop and lost time on the way in.
If this guy can do a second half of a marathon on a humid day under 63 min with a pee stop, you have to wonder whether he might be the next world beater.
I routinely do my pitstops between 46 and 48 seconds. My guess is he could have run 2:06:17.
Al Unser wrote:
I routinely do my pitstops between 46 and 48 seconds. My guess is he could have run 2:06:17.
I would guess a minute. 10 seconds to jog over to the porta potty, 5 seconds to get his wiener out, 30 second piss, 5 to put it back up, 10 to jog back to the course. That might be being generous though, 10 seconds is probably a little long for the jog, and 30 seconds is a LOOOONG piss (though he did say he needed to go badly); I might be underestimating the time needed to get your wiener out and put it back. He probably caught his breath a little too, so that may take off a few seconds.
Whatever it took him, it is an impressive performance.
It could be good for publicity too - "the guy that ran 2:07:04 and stopped to piss" is more memorable than "the guy that ran 2:06:20."