Christian Hesch doping article in the NY Times/Competitor.com

Make a mistake, fess up, move on, don't make it again. Good luck.

You will earn my respect when you pay back your ill-gotten prize money and not a second sooner.

Oh come on now, don't be ridiculous. Surely his public humiliation is worth $40,000?

hypnotoad wrote:

You will earn my respect when you pay back your ill-gotten prize money and not a second sooner.

I do not think you know what the word "surely" means...

Who Else Is There?

You are delusional if you believe this. There is absolutely no chance you will ever come close to those times without drugs. I'm sure you were having your red blood cell count measured before you started on EPO, right?

Your push-up stunt seems real cool now brah.

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Hesch maintains that he never raced on EPO but used it to recover from injuries.

“Maybe this is my cue to walk away, but I’m real tempted to make a real clear point that I can and have run all those times perfectly clean. It’s not that difficult to run these times, and it doesn’t take any outside help.”

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Christian I find this crazy since you were so hard on Mo Trafeh for doping (posting a picture about him when he dropped from the Olympic Trials marathon saying something about doping and dropping out) yet Mo had no positives or anything (just stating that fact).

This isn't coming from a negative place, I've always been a big fan of yours because you were a character in a sport that lacked characters and were cool enough to post on here about racing and so on, but what was your thought process when you bag on others about doping yet dope?

WTF. I held you in high regard, being a full-time employee and racing at a decently high level myself. I met you once, I think in SLO about 10 years ago, I didn't know who you were then, but I connected the dots later and have followed you in recent years.

It's a major disappointment, to say the least. I know your intentions are fine and you're maybe a product of the environment we live and race in, but WTF. Who can we trust anymore? I already assume all the big contract guys are on something, now I have to question the 'working class' runners?

You're not beyond redemption, but you are tainted. Very sad to read. I hope you find a way to make it right.

"Hesch maintains that he never raced on EPO but used it to recover from injuries."

Yeah, keep telling yourself that.

You're a POS and you owe me $500.

Saul Goodman wrote:

WTF. I held you in high regard, being a full-time employee and racing at a decently high level myself. I met you once, I think in SLO about 10 years ago, I didn't know who you were then, but I connected the dots later and have followed you in recent years.

It's a major disappointment, to say the least. I know your intentions are fine and you're maybe a product of the environment we live and race in, but WTF. Who can we trust anymore? I already assume all the big contract guys are on something, now I have to question the 'working class' runners?

You're not beyond redemption, but you are tainted. Very sad to read. I hope you find a way to make it right.

You'll more often find the Heschs and Hellebuycks of this world using because they're not good enough to get in the testing pool and they don't finish high enough in races that test to get selected for testing. They give a bad name to the real pros (who have to submit themselves to regular testing) and they disenfranchise the local guys who have no hope of making the big time, but want to do well in their own ponds. Pretty shameful stuff.

jesus christ! legalize the epo already!

Tough news to swallow...Hesch has his fair share of admirers in the SoCal area where he is based. Very tough for the 20somethings fighting to make some extra cash while "Hollywood" goes on his whirlwind tour of local road races to scoop up a few hundred dollars every weekend with his overblown celebrations and attention-grabbing antics. He has also been very outspoken regarding the lance armstrong scandal, etc. Shame. Too bad for his Nike Run LA group as well...

“Maybe this is my cue to walk away, but I’m real tempted to make a real clear point that I can and have run all those times perfectly clean. It’s not that difficult to run these times, and it doesn’t take any outside help.”

-Then why cheat at all? Lots of people aren't fast enough to win races. They can live with it, so can you.

Sad. Probably has been going on longer than just 2 years.

You don't know me, we met once after a race you ran at UCLA and you surely don't remember me but I was always a big fan of yours. I'm really disappointed to hear about your doping. I hope you can turn it around and come back "clean", but I'll never cheer for you again. You've lost at least one fan for life. (Clean is in scare quotes because you were able to train at a higher level for at least some portion of your life which is an advantage I don't think ever truly goes away even if it is only mental, and not physiological.)

fashu wrote:

jesus christ! legalize the epo already!

I don't want to tell my kids that they have to risk dying of a heart attack in their sleep if they want to try to make it in this sport.

I just don't get it. You can make way more money doing customer service than being a third tier runner, and you have plenty of time to train, race, and have a good time running. If you're not going to be an Olympian, what's the difference between a 68:00 and a 64:00 HM? Or a 13:45 and 14:10? Or a 3:58 and 4:05? A few hundred bucks for winning a race every few weeks? It doesn't make sense. Either you love competing or you love the 'glory' that comes along with being at the top. There's not really a middle ground in this sport. Our bench warmers don't make a $150k league minimum.

I just wish I never heard stories like this.

The difference is the attention you get when you dominate local road races for years.

Hesch obviously loved the attention he got from winning races and pulling stunts like board shorts, carrying a surfboard and stopping and doing pushups.