It was a feat nothing less than spectacular: in the 2014 Boston Marathon, Kenyan runner Rita Jeptoo defied the odds and won a third female title. Jeptoo won for the first time in 2006, then again in 2013. Then in 2014, she set a course record of 2:18:57.
Her time was four minutes faster than the previous record-holder, Kenya’s Caroline Kilel. But it also may have been a fraud.
Five months after her April victory, Jeptoo tested positive for the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin, or EPO. EPO is a naturally occurring substance that controls red blood cell production, but exogenous EPO can be used as a performance-enhancing drug. And after not one but two tests, Jeptoo was found to have used it to achieve her awe-inspiring time in 2014.
“One of her last miles was 4:48, something insane. At the time, I was like, ‘Whoa, my mind is blown. That’s so crazy. Amazing,’” fellow runner Amy Hastings Cragg told The Boston Globe. “Looking back, I’m like, ‘I was an idiot. That’s impossible.’ That’s actually not possible for a woman to do at the end of a marathon. So, that’s very frustrating.”
Upon the findings, Jeptoo was suspended from competition for two years. Some, however, think that the suspension isn’t enough and want Jeptoo’s titles taken away, along with a lifetime ban. The World Anti-Doping Agency has increased the penalty for first-time offenders from two years to four years, but it still doesn’t take away the sting for other clean runners.
“You get very bitter when you start thinking about it too much,” Cragg told the Globe. “You can’t beat these people who are on drugs.”
The course record Jeptoo set in 2014 cannot be voided just by the confirmed presence of EPO due to an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. In addition, there is no telling whether or not Jeptoo’s 2006 and 2013 victories were also aided by the drug.
“We put an asterisk by them,” Abbott World Marathon Majors’ general counsel Nick Bitel told the Globe. Besides that, there is not much they can do.
But the AWMM, the overarching counsel that oversees the world’s six major annual marathons — Boston’s was the world’s first — is looking to change that. They are introducing a new testing program that will require all athletes who have earned AWMM “points” since 2012 to get tested for performance-enhancing drugs four times per year.
“It’s saying to the athletes, not only are you going to have to be clean when you win, but you’ve got to stay clean,” Bitel told the Globe.
If athletes are found to have performance-enhancing drugs in their blood, they will be denied monetary bonuses, much like Jeptoo was denied her $500,000 World Marathon Majors bonus following the reveal of the deception.
The program will require mandatory testing for about 150 top runners, plus any runners who run a marathon in less than a specified time. Marathon directors can also recommend testing for any particular runners who have signed up for events.
In a sport that requires no equipment besides the speed, strength and endurance of the human body, the AWMM is looking to clean up the playing field. However, if we want to keep the symbolism of the marathon being something as important as it is, we need to make it fair. Of course, professional runners are the most competitive, so it makes sense to start out with testing them. But they aren’t the only ones who should be tested.
It’s simple: if you have to take a drug test to apply for a job that has absolutely nothing to do with physical prowess, you should have to take a drug test to compete in a marathon.
To qualify for the Boston Marathon, runners have to submit times from three other races, so maybe having to submit proof of drug tests as part of the requirement would make sense. One already has to go through the effort of getting their times from certain races. It’s just one more hoop to jump through, and it’s maybe the most important one.
If only the top 150 runners from around the world are being tested, there are going to be people who aren’t frontrunners and want to be. What’s keeping those people from taking the performance-enhancing drugs that have just been banned for top athletes? Guilt clearly isn’t enough.
In addition, for those who are found to have been using performance-enhancing drugs to win, awards should be retroactively taken away. It’s not enough to ban them from the race for four years.
There should be a fair trial, just like there’s a trial for any crime, of course. But it doesn’t make sense to make the punishment so easy.
Us laypeople think of the Marathon as just fun, but it is other peoples’ livelihood and job. If everyone else is doping up before races, they’re going to do it too. You can’t trust that someone who did this isn’t going to do it again.
These scandals put a bad light on the point of the Marathon as well. One would think that after all that’s happened, runners would put competitiveness aside and make this day about the resilience and strength of the community.
It can’t be ignored that the Boston Marathon is never going to be the same again. It’s always going to be the anniversary of the bombings. The people that take part in it are now not just runners, but also symbols of Boston pride. This day means so much to the city and the people who call it home, and to make it all about winning — and especially honoring someone who cheated their way to the top — is shameful.
