Mo Trafeh Tunes Up for Trials With 1:01:39 Half in China

with a progression that veers SHARPLY upward from barely regional caliber, to one of the best in the country (beating hall handily), then yes, it is SHOCKING to see him progress so rapidly in just a few months time. not only shocking, but also curious, don't you think?

The truth is that 2 high school boys who graduated with 3200 meter times no better than 9:16 (one a converted 2 mile) BOTH made the U.S. Olympic marathon team 2 times each, and you find it hard to believe that a boy could run 9:08 as a 10th grader and possess the talent to have a CHANCE to make the U.S. Olympic marathon team without resorting to PEDs? I guess you probably assume the 2 boys who made it twice each were cheating, too.

For the record, one of the boys ran 9:16 for 3200m and the other ran 9:18 for 2 miles, so perhaps the latter does convert to 9:15 or so, but the point stands...

I realize now that there are at least THREE boys who made U.S. Olympic marathon teams twice each with converted 3200m high school times no faster than about 9:15 and ONE of them was an Olympic gold and silver medalist in the marathon...
I don't find Trafeh's progression any more suspicious than Frank Shorter's was.

For the comparison with Ryan Hall: Hall trains at altitude, which usually indicates that the runner is NOT taking EPO. Mohammed Trafeh does not train at altitude and avoids training and running (prep) races where everyone knows he could get tested (in and out of comp).

Don't get me wrong. I don't like Hall for all his Jesus talk but I think Hall is clean.

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Running in the Rain wrote:

I don't know about all the drug accusations but why would you want to root for someone who is not an American born citizen and does not even live in the United States full time.

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Didn't Catherine ndereba ran Zhuhai?

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Kevin In Cal wrote:

Didn't Catherine ndereba ran Zhuhai?

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[quoteI'm not American. I couldn't care less what he "is". Fact: he won't get tested in Morocco or China. He does not have to micro dose like other people.[/quote]



Let me make sure I'm hearing you correctly. The fact that he doesn't have to allegedly micro dope like other people is discouraging because he should have to dope like "other people" in Portland?

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Mo Farah joined OTC and dropped his 10k PR by almost a minute and won a world championship after getting rocked in every other championship final.

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Kenya should select their olympic team and leave Catherine out for running a total of 1 marathon in 2010 and 2011. Catherine doesn't deserve to be on the olympic team. She needs to run a 2nd marathon before the London Marathon.

Catherine's not going to be on the Olympic team. They're more likely to pick Mark Keitany, Edna Kiplagat, and Florence Kiplagat.

Never mind the trains in Morocco, races in China innuendo... is it really true that the USA Half Marathon Championship winner doesn't get put on the out of competition testing list?

From here:
http://www.usatf.org/about/legal/antidoping/faq.asp

"If you are ranked among the top 50 in the World or one of the top 15 performers in your respective event domestically, you are subject to out-of-competition drug testing."

How can the national championship winner not be in the top 15 performers?

If he doesn't meet that criteria, then what about this one...
http://www.usatf.org/about/legal/antidoping/ooc_testing.pdf

"E. Others: Any Athlete finishing in the top three positions in any Senior National Outdoor Championship. USATF shall notify USADA of the names of those Athletes within seven days of the conclusion of the Championships. These Athletes shall be placed in the OOC Pool..."

Why have you decided who has or hasn't been tested? Just because you're not watching him fill the cup personally doesn't mean anything.

USADA's website lists athletes who they've tested: http://www.usada.org/athlete-test-history. Trefah's been tested twice in 2011 and 2010, and once in 2009. Note that the site does not give say when the tests were given (in or out of competition). Also, it only includes certain test results:

"This search includes all in- and out-of-competition tests on U.S. athletes conducted under USADA's testing program. This search will also includes tests conducted on U.S. athletes training internationally by other testing entities when the request for the test was made by USADA. This search will not yield results conducted on U.S. athletes by other testing entities, if the test was not requested or initiated by USADA, or tests conducted by USADA at the request of other sport organizations or international federations."

The IAAF give the results for the tests that it conducts: http://iaaf.org/antidoping/statistics/index.html. It too does not list every test given--only the tests that the IAAF does for itself; the IAAF conducts tests for countries that don't have their own anti-doping system, but does not post those test results. I think these are only from World Champs, the Olympics, meets on the Euro circuit, etc. Trafeh's not listed here, but that's probably because he didn't run a race where the IAAF conducted testing.

The WADA website is impossible, but I don't think they post test results: http://www.wada-ama.org/.

USATF posts quarterly negative test results: http://www.usatf.org/About/Anti-Doping/Testing-Results.aspx. It's not particularly useful, but it's better than nothing. These results may be the same as what the USADA reports.

You may now return to making cheap-shot insinuations like usual....

My understanding is that these criteria only pertain to Olympic events. Since Mo never races (or shall I say, "finishes") Olympic events (10000m track, Marathon) he is not in the OOC pool.

Notice that the second link you mentioned refers to the "Senior National Outdoor Championship", i.e. USATF Outdoor Track Champs.

The point someone else brought up about microdosing is kind of hilarious, because it's "unfair" that Mo doesn't have to microdose like domestic cheaters... which is true, but then even the domestic microdosing cheaters make it unfair for the rest of us.

Don't act like in-competition tests achieve anything except deterrence from blatant doping immediately prior to competition, given the doper has half a brain. It is easy enough for these guys to avoid a positive test when they know exactly when the test will occur. By the time the race rolls around, they have already gotten the benefit of training at the performance-enhanced level, and THE PERFORMANCE-ENHANCED TRAINING is what makes them good, not the mere fact that they are taking enhancers.

The only important testing is the out-of-competition testing, and even that is really weak (i.e. it won't typically pick up microdosing).

You stated "Don't get me wrong. I don't like Hall for all his Jesus talk but I think Hall is clean".

Is that a valid reason not to like a runner and his racing performances?

Has Hall contacted you and tried to convert you to Christianity?

Even if you do not believe in God, the way Hall lives his life should be a model for others to follow in how to treat people and have humility.

I also think that Hall is clean.

I am also a fan of Mo Trafeh and I hope he does well at the trials.

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math for you wrote:

Why have you decided who has or hasn't been tested? Just because you're not watching him fill the cup personally doesn't mean anything.

USADA's website lists athletes who they've tested: http://www.usada.org/athlete-test-history. Trefah's been tested twice in 2011 and 2010, and once in 2009. Note that the site does not give say when the tests were given (in or out of competition). Also, it only includes certain test results:

"This search includes all in- and out-of-competition tests on U.S. athletes conducted under USADA's testing program.

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nobody special wrote:The point someone else brought up about microdosing is kind of hilarious, because it's "unfair" that Mo doesn't have to microdose like domestic cheaters... which is true, but then even the domestic microdosing cheaters make it unfair for the rest of us.

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