Zach Miller Ultra Runner - Possible Doper or Proof of Development Possibilities??

Hello troll pup. How are you doing tonight?

I can see that you are full of holiday spirit.

I am here now and your viral infection is active.

I have a few comments:

1972-B.Ekblum,et al. Response to Exercise after Blood Loss and Reinfusion.Journal of Applied Physiology.1972 Aug;33(2):175-80. publishes about hemoglobin changes and exercise performance changes after blood transfusions. In the same year, Lasse Viren wins the 5k and 10k gold at the Olympics, and repeats both wins in the 1976 Olympics. There were suspicions of blood transfusions by the Finns, but we will never know for sure.

1976-Waldemar Cierpinski cheats to win gold medal for East Germany over Frank Shorter.

1980-Cierpinski again wins marathon. Kaarlo Maaninka of Finland wins silver in 10k and bronze in 5k, and is found to have done blood transfusions.

1982-Francesco Conconi of Italy publishes journal articles about the anaerobic threshold, with variations on the CONCONI test being done to this day on runners and cyclists.

1984-Allberto Cova of Italy wins 10k Olympic gold and did blood transfusions. Marti Vainio of Finland wins silver in the 10k, but is caught with the anabolic steroid metenolone, which was possibly in his old stored blood which he transfused before the race, but forgot he was on metenolone when the blood was withdrawn for storage. He was not a very smart doper. It is also discovered that one third of the US Cycling team at the 1984 Olympics, which won 9 medals, were doing blood transfusions.

1985-blood transfusions are declared illegal and banned, but there is no test for detection.

1987-New England Journal of Medicine publishes trial of recombinant EPO called Epogen, made by the biotech firm Amgen. Amgen ironically goes on to be a major sponsor of the cycling Tour of California, where many of the riders are using its EPO product.

1987 - 5 Dutch cyclists die.

1988- 2 Dutch cyclists die. 1 Belgian cyclist dies.

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/19/us/stamina-building-drug-linked-to-athletes-deaths.html

1988- Dr. Francesco Conconi publishes a study on serum EPO levels in cross-country skiers:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3384528

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Conconi

1988-Salvatore Antibo from Italy wins Olympic silver in 10k and Gelindo Bordin wins the gold medal in the marathon. Bordin also wins Boston in 1990.

1989-Epogen approved by FDA for use in US.

1989-EPO moves into cycling in a big way. 5 more Dutch cyclists die.

1990- 2 more Dutch cyclists die and 3 more Belgian cyclists die.

1990- IOC bans EPO, but there is no test for detection of EPO.

1990-1991- track has 3 to 5 sub 13:10 5k perfomers and/or performances per year.

1991- Dr. Gabriele Rosa arrives in Kenya and sets up his first training camp.

1992- Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes of Spain (of later Operation Puerto fame) is a doctor in Spain as Fermin Cacho wins the 1500m at the Barcelona Olympics. Dieter Baumann wins the 5k and Khalid Skah wins the 10k.

1993-14 men break 13:10 a total of 21 times, while the Chinese women go on a rampage with Wang Junxia 29:31.78 10k WR, 8:06.11 3k WR, that still stand to this day. (New 29:17.45 by Alamaz Ayana in 2016 Update to come at the end of 2016.)

1993-2000-rampant EPO use with no test for detection and records are smashed, with huge depth of fast times by many people in track and cycling. Cyclists like Pantani and Riis pushing their hematocrits up to dangerous levels of 60 or 65%. Cycling finally institutes a hematocrit cutoff limit of a max hematocrit of 50% or you can't race and cyclists respond by all of them then having hematocrits of 48-49.5%, which is just a coincidence that they are all just below the limit...right?

A protege of the Italian Dr. Conconi, mentioned previously, went on to become much more famous. His name was Dr. Michele Ferrari, and he was the doctor to the stars of pro cycling. He was doctor to Lance Armstrong, who is the prototype for a pharmaceutical experiment gone mad disguised as an athlete. They did everything including EPO, autologous blood transfusions, the anabolic steroid testosterone, and Human Growth Hormone. What a name! You can't make this stuff up. The mad genius Dr. Ferrari really did turn his riders into Ferraris, with extra horsepower. He also did a great job making sure that 1) he kept Lance alive and didn't kill him and 2) that he somehow passed his drug tests. It was probably Ferrari that pioneered taking EPO by intravenous instead of subcutaneous injection, so that the EPO could be cleared faster, and the window for a positive epo test was then very small. Michele Ferrari is a very smart guy who is presently in trouble with tax authorities for hiding large amounts of money in secret bank accounts (that are not secret now) and he is also banned for life from cycling.

2000-first urine test for EPO detection is developed and used at the Olympics. The test improved around 2005. The new test for EPO leads athletes back to the old method of blood transfusions, to avoid detection.

2004-Italian Stefano Baldini wins gold medal in marathon. American Tyler Hamilton is caught doing a heterologous blood tranfusion of someone else's blood at the Olympics, where he won the gold medal. His B test at the Olympics had problems and he kept the medal on a technicality, but finally returned the medal in 2011. His lawyers used the famous "Tyler is a human chimera with a vanishing twin" defense to explain why he had blood from two different people in his bloodstream...which wins the comedy prize for funniest doping excuse ever.

2006- Operation Puerto with Dr. Fuentes and 200 bags of blood, steroids.

2008-CERA (Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator), a new longer acting agent, with a much longer half-life 20x longer than EPO, is appoved for use in Jan, 2008 under the name Mircera. Rashid Ramzi tests positive for CERA at the 2008 Olympics, and loses his gold medal.

2009- Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) is started.

2009-2015-development of EPO mimetic peptides such as peginesatide.

There has also been recent development of orally active Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF) stabilizers. You can take a pill which works like EPO. The company Fibrinogen has compounds FG-2216, FG-4592, and FG-4497, which stabilize HIF by inhibiting the enzyme prolyl-hydroxylase, which is involved in the breakdown of HIF-1alpha by the ubiquitin proteosome pathway. HIF is a transcription factor which increases the gene expression of about 200 different genes, including the gene for EPO. Increased levels of HIF-1 alpha signals cells in the kidney to increase transcription of erythropoietin (EPO), which travels to the bone marrow, binds to progenitor cells, and increases erythropoiesis, which is the production of new red blood cells. This is the mechanism of action of HIF stabilizers.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22362605

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26808067

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27346747

Another compound involved with HIF is cobalt chloride, which also acts as an HIF stabilizer, is orally active, but is not recommended, as it is toxic to the gastrointestinal system, thyroid, heart, liver and kidney. It may also cause cancer. There is now a blood test to test for cobalt levels.

Other recent research is looking at inhalation of the noble gases Xenon, and Krypton, as HIF activators of erythropoiesis. They have been used by Russian athletes. The compounds have recently been banned and there is now a test for them. The cheaters are always finding new ways to cheat and the testers are always trying to find new ways to catch the cheaters.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26939898

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24861600

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27001214

For further reading, check out: Simon Beuck, et al. Hypoxia-inducible factor stabilizers and other small-molecule erythropoiesis stimulating agents in current and preventive doping analysis. Drug Testing and Analysis 2012 Nov;4(11):830-45., which is from their special issue on Sports Drug Testing for Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agents and Autologous Blood Transfusion. There are many interesting articles in this issue.

For more reading on the physiology and mechanism of action:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3874847/

I snort helium before races.

Hey troll pup.

How are you doing tonight?

Let's Rock and Roll at 7,000 ft.

http://www.hypo2sport.com/high-performance-services/biomarkerslab-testing/

http://www.hypo2sport.com/total-hemoglobin-mass-testing-the-gold-standard/

http://www.hypo2sport.com/high-performance-services/physiologicalperformance-testing/

OK?

Someone here would love to be strong enough to be accused of cheating.

I would always give specialist runners like Zach who are highly motivated in their chosen discipline the benefit of the doubt, particularly if the event has any kind of technical requirement. In the UK where there is perhaps a little more regular cross-over by runners between fell (mountain and trail) running and conventional road/track/cross country it is easy to see that specificity in training and regular racing generally makes a big difference. Although road and track runners with far quicker 'flat' times can be competitive, they can also be beat by the 'slower' specialists on the fells more often than not (although there are some fell specialists who are extremely good road and track runners as well). In terms of big improvement at longer distances by what appear to be less talented runners over the shorter distances this is actually pretty common once an individual finds the motivation to train specifically hard enough for 'their' event, just as long as their sustained pace capability is sufficient for the purpose. Even in the flat distance events older Brits at least will remember Ian Thompson (with a similar build to Zach Miller) in the 1970s who went from good 'club runner' in the 30min 10k range to run 2.09 and win the Commonwealth Games and European Championships marathons...

rjm33, you realize all your posts are out-dated article and research?

Nothing new.

Interesting list rjm33

I don't know that much about PEDs, but I'd imagine it would be quite easy to just take a basic variant of EPO as we are essentially never tested in mountain-ultra-trail running...like ever. Someone could be doped to the gills and they wouldn't even have to bother with mircodosing, masking agents, or using anything relatively new (or even that expensive for that matter).

Forget Zach Miller - did anyone notice that the first Masters finisher at TNF was a 43 year old woman?!?!

DOPER!!!!!!!!!!

Not to derail the thread but since we're talking range it's worth mentioning New Zealander Jonathan Wyatt. Wyatt holds course record at MW(56 and change), top 20 in the Olympic marathon I think, several world mountain running championships. But never dabbled in ultras that I'm aware of. Would have probably done well I suspect.

Dunno much about this ultra stuff but mildly interested in what this Zach Miller fella has to say regarding the thread title "Possible Doper or Proof of Development Possibilities??". The Canaday fella has a lot to say but not Miller for some reason. All very odd.

I would guess Miller doesn't waste away the hours at Barr camp perusing Letsrun.

http://www.barrcamp.com/images/Website%20Photo.jpg

I'm sure someone has sent a messenger pigeon to his cabin, with a note that says, "Congrats Zach, You are now Letsrun Famous, "Zach Miller Ultra Runner - Possible Doper or Proof of Development Possibilities??" thread is a hit with the trolls." - Anon

And then he just smiles and shakes his head.

Drugs will do that to you. wrote:

Yeah, drugs will do that to you, funny that.

It wasn't drugs, it was sleep deprivation.

Kouros wasn't as fast as Fejes, but he spent more time on the track. Kouros had less than 8 hours of downtime for the six days, with sleep included in that downtime. He was falling asleep while he ran. I wholeheartedly agree with theohiostate, who stated: "I know that he punished himself beyond description".

ATY wrote:

Drugs will do that to you. wrote:

Yeah, drugs will do that to you, funny that.

It wasn't drugs, it was sleep deprivation.

Kouros wasn't as fast as Fejes, but he spent more time on the track. Kouros had less than 8 hours of downtime for the six days, with sleep included in that downtime. He was falling asleep while he ran. I wholeheartedly agree with theohiostate, who stated: "I know that he punished himself beyond description".

And what do you use to get yourself to the level of "sleep deprivation" where you have " 8 hours of downtime for the six days, with sleep included in that downtime", eight friggin' hours with sleep included!!!

Come on some of you people, surely you can't be so naïve?, I know you're trying to protect ultra running, but please.

Has anyone in ultra running ever been drug tested.

Drugs will do that to you. wrote:

And what do you use to get yourself to the level of "sleep deprivation" where you have " 8 hours of downtime for the six days, with sleep included in that downtime", eight friggin' hours with sleep included!!!

.

Get him a fanny pack and sign him up for the 72 hour race!

bell ringer..... wrote:

Drugs will do that to you. wrote:

And what do you use to get yourself to the level of "sleep deprivation" where you have " 8 hours of downtime for the six days, with sleep included in that downtime", eight friggin' hours with sleep included!!!

.

http://kokefm.com/salvation-army-bell-ringer-sets-world-record-after-151-hours/

yeah one big difference

sitting on his arse

And he was doing it for the kids with divine help.

Just stumbled upon this thread while looking for information on Matt Carpenter. Which is an interesting comparison to Zach... I live in Colorado Springs and I know Matt Carpenter and Zach Miller. Matt's slew of records for the Pikes Peak Marathon and Ascent have been unbroken for 26 years. This year Killian Jornet tired to break the record and did not even come close. What's there secret you ask? They train/trained at altitude. Zach lives at 10,400 feet and he runs on Pikes Peak daily I assume. Matt Carpenter had trained on the summit of Pikes Peak constantly when he was in his prime. Only dope here is you...

http://skyrunner.com/story/pikespeako2.htm