Smoove wrote:
He posted on a Facebook that it was a PR. There was an asterisk which might've meant a masters PR, but I was left with the impression it was an all time PR.
Asterisk may reflect that it is a point-to-point course with a relatively small elevation drop (most of it coming in the last mile).
Before the speculation gets out of hand, y'all ought to read the (unusually good) profile on Castille from Runners World from 2016:
https://rw.runnersworld.com/selects/masters.html
He ran 28:49 for 10k at Stanford in 2003 or 2004 after 3-4 years of real training. Had he started when he was in high school or even college and developed like most elites, I imagine he'd be capable of 61-62 for the half. It's not crazy for a talent like that to run 2-3 minutes off their lifetime best in their mid-40s.
I've runner faster in my 40s than I did in my 30s and most of my 20s. Having kids shifted my focus away from nights out drinking with my friends to healthier habits. Increased job stress forced me to find an outlet for that stress. Running was it. I think the years of inconsistent training have left me feeling pretty fresh. I'm more than a minute slower for the 5k than I was in college, but I realized the majority of my potential in college and I was well coached.
Take a guy with a ton of talent, who didn't really work at all in his younger years, whose legs are fresh, who doesn't otherwise have tons of choices outside of the fitness world because of past choices, focus his energies in a very specific direction, and I can see a reasonable explanation for his success. Plus, the cumulative miles may be having their positive effect.
Can I make an argument the other way? Sure. But that too would all be based on speculation. I'm just not willing to contribute to taking a man's reputation away on speculation.
Having raced against and spoken with Kevin several times over the years now, I will vouch that he's clean. He trains his butt off, rarely has setbacks, and is as soft-spoken, positive, and humble as they come.
Am I absolutely certain of this? Of course not. I'm not him. But I'd put as much faith in his times being clean as I would my own slow ones.
In an era of being hoodwinked by your idols, he's one you can root for without reservation.
All time age-graded lists for US Masters Road Racers.
http://www.usatf.org/statistics/All-Time-Lists/Masters-Age-Graded-Road-Running.aspx
I'm always under the belief that if something appears too good to be true, it probably is. What will it take for USATF to actually test masters athletes? They say it's always possible, but I never really hear of it happening. If the odds of being tested are super low, there's a much greater chance for masters to find ways around the rules. Anti-aging clinics anyone?
kmaclam wrote:
Just wow... wrote:Age graded 97.5%. How does that rank in all-time age-graded results?
You must not understand how age grading works. Here on Long Island Kathy Martin regularly age grades higher. It's a % of the W.R. for that sex/age.
I read your snarky post in a Long Island accent and immediately grew one single eyebrow across my forehead, had an overwhelming desire to go out and honk my car horn for no reason, and went to look for anything on Netflix with Fran Drescher in it.
I just don't see it happening. There's really not much on the line. You don't have to qualify for us masters champs (or world champs as far as I can tell).
Road races are generally self regulating, and most don't test (even for money finishes) because it is impractical (by the time they sort out the masters champion is at a major marathon, that person is long gone) and it costs money. Maybe at the national road racing championships testing would make sense, but I just done see it happening.
On top of all that, I expect that in the masters world, a lot of the doping comes in the form of medically prescribed testosterone supplement. I thrink thats cheating, but I don't think it would be enforced that way.
Need proof. Ik kevin and usatf has test him in & out of competition especially when he first start running fast as a master runner. He works hard, eats right, stays injury free for the most and really knows his body and not afraid to put it on the line. Good guy congrats to Kevin for making a change for the better.
jewbacca wrote:
Before the speculation gets out of hand, y'all ought to read the (unusually good) profile on Castille from Runners World from 2016:
https://rw.runnersworld.com/selects/masters.htmlHe ran 28:49 for 10k at Stanford in 2003 or 2004 after 3-4 years of real training. Had he started when he was in high school or even college and developed like most elites, I imagine he'd be capable of 61-62 for the half. It's not crazy for a talent like that to run 2-3 minutes off their lifetime best in their mid-40s.
I read this article when it came out, and have been fascinated with Castille ever since. I am in my late forties, and picked up running late in
life, and so I found his story very inspiring. I love a good "bad to good" success story, as they teach us what we are truly capable of, what truly lies
His race times are otherworldly, and I can see why people have doubts about whether he is clean. I do not know him, but, without evidence, I would never think he is anything but clean.
I will probably never meet him, but would love to see him someday, perhaps at a race, and talk about life, running, redemption.
All the best to you, Kevin. We old guys know how HARD it is to do what you do. Peace and God bless.
Something got messed up in that post...I meant to say "what truly lies within us."
As a neutral observer, Doesn't that article (from a few years ago) say that he made 30k in prize money in one year as a masters runner? There appears to be quite a bit on the line for him. Resorting to selling drugs is very desperate, and so is PED use. Regardless of PED use or not, I think what he's done is amazing and I can truly appreciate an inspiring comeback story. I should also note that some people will cheat even with basically nothing at stake (like mike Rossi etc), just need an attention or ego boost. But like I said, I wish this man success regardless of what he chooses to do and he has inspired many including myself either way.
tlbernhard wrote:
All time age-graded lists for US Masters Road Racers.
http://www.usatf.org/statistics/All-Time-Lists/Masters-Age-Graded-Road-Running.aspx
13 of the top 25 men's marathon performance were run in Minnesota.
(2 Grandma's, 5 Twin Cities, 6 USATF Masters (I assume on the Twin Cities course))
What is up with that?
Kevin Laffyatte wrote:
Kevin is da devil, my momma said that kevin run dat fass cos he a cheater and if I was a cheater too I would have run fasta den dat too.
I en'd up coachn a track club call LTA, and they said that I touch some lil boys dat ran fa me but thas not true I mean we was just havin a lil fun but In my day I was a good UL runner but dat kastile is a cheater and I kno it.
Ha ha your eather a close cheat friend of Kevin or Kevin himself. Using my name from the post that was taken down yesterday telling the truth. Look facts are facts . I put them out there yesterday.The site took it down. I am not a troll . I am very close to the source. let's revisit this in about 4 years and see what is being said then .
Interesting that we have a Kevin castille thread on the same week and just 72 hours after he got canned from his job as a high school coach at St. Thomas Moore in Lafayette.
The exact details for his firing are unclear, but it involved an inappropriate relationship with a student. Usually inappropriate relationships aren't just being "friends" with kids. Sometimes it's a little "more than friends" let's just hope todays prize money want won out of necessity to pay some lawyers.
Riddle me this. If he's clean, and everyone thinks he's clean...why have the mods not deleted this thread?
Because it is generating discussion and maybe driving some hits, and, thus, revenues?
Moreover, while some have said they think he is clean, others have simply said that it is unfair to sully the guy's rep without more eveidence even if someone could make a reasonable argument hat he may be cheating.
Also, I don't think the mods are in a place to make a determination regarding the accuracy of any of this. They have deleted some comments though.
I just don't understand how people can not be suspicious. It's not like he ran a 1:08 or something. He ran sub 1:04 at 45...most people can't run a 1:04, much less at 45.
Yes, I know, he ran a 14:11 5k. That too...at 45!
How?
I'd feel a lot better about people taking shots at a guy's rep if they posted under their real names or were using well known names that people can link to real people through their histories.
It would add some accountability and would make people think twice before making accusations.
Not defending Castille per se, but I've had people take baseless shots at me and I know how it feels.
Suspicion and anonymous accusations are totally different animals.