Does Cheating Occur At Races?

They say cheaters never prosper. That is an assuring thought, if it does happen. Unfortunately, many cheaters go undetected and unsuspected, escaping the radar of doping authorities. 

This article reveals shocking data: One in 7 Ironman participants, apparently, cheat in long-distance races such as Ironman triathlons.

This is certainly not assuring news, yet it may just be the tip of the proverbial ice-berg. Unlike professional cyclists, where cheating is rampant (read Tyler Hamilton's 'The Secret Race') - bread and water (aqua-pita) won't cut it - and anti-doping proponents only reveal their ugly, conscionable sides, the amateur arena is already loaded with suspicion. Why? Perhaps, a significant number of gifted age-groupers are annoyed at missing their podium placings, and their potential slots in the world championships. 

In the past decade, only a handful of professionals have been caught for doping. If a current champion is caught for deliberate cheating, it may diminish the stature of the sport but not its allure. Competitive bodybuilding is rift with doping, i.e. through the use of anabolic steroids, dehydrating and fat-reducing pharmaceutical aids. In spite of the open-use of such hormone-based, muscle-enhancing medication, bodybuilding has a large niche following and a prevailing mindset that bypasses logic and reasoning, and blind-sighted by aesthetic beauty. Grotesque muscles are considered sexy on the bodies of both genders.

Why cheat? The reasons are aplenty. Because it can be an advantage, unfair or not. Because more and more serious athletes are resorting to such (mal)practices. Because, it enhances the body's potential to do more and exceed its perceived limits. Because, some need to go to Kona and feel complete with that experience and hyperbole. Because the financial rewards diminish significantly when you place off the podium. Because...and the list of qualifications and reasoning continues, ad infinitum. It is, what it is.

The cheating will continue, and we need to adapt to the situations and conditions. We have choices, but cheating need not be the only one. Several roads lead to Kona, and you need to live with your own conscience and integrity. Perhaps, it is time to not get angry but to get even. Do your best, and live with your best. You can still earn a chance to Kona through sheer luck of the draw(s), charity slots, entry by exception, or through the tradition of placing. After all, isn't the journey as relevant as the destination?

Why Do The Ironman? Part 1

Where's Whally? My name on my Finisher's tee-shirt for Ironman Lanzarote 2011.

I have been asked this question many times; and I am always enthusiastic about answering, as my responses are mildly different each time.

There is really no simple answer to this persistent question.

Some of my listeners (from the laiety) may think I am crazy; I am sure some may even question my sanity (or lack of it). After all, it is perceived as a grueling, physical challenge comprising 3.8K of swimming, 180K of riding, and then completing a full 42.195K marathon. Now, what would possess a sane and normal person ‘to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortunes’? As my wise mother stated, time and again, to me: 'Isn't there a better to rest your weary bones?' Later, I would realise fully what she meant - such is the allure of wisdom and insight.

I recall that in the early 1980’s, when I was in secondary school, I was tuned in to my favourite sports program ‘The ABC Wide World of Sports’. What I saw changed my paradigm about sports, my life, and my perception about humankind (okay, in those days, I thought about ‘mankind’). The image was powerful and dense, albeit subtle and almost meaningless. The short report was about the Ironman triathlon in Hawaii. The most vivid image was during the marathon where people jogged into the night, some walking, and some limping. The sight of struggling athletes braving to beat the deadline was immensely powerful, and emotional for me. I daresay I shed a few tears, as the imagery I saw was painful, poignant and possessing. I let this experience simmer in my mind for several decades. I would never have thought of attempting this challenge, let alone a full marathon or a 2.4-mile swim in the open-sea (God forbid, I saw ‘Jaws’ and would never commit to swimming in the ocean at any time in deep waters) or ride four times the widest length of Singapore.

I spent the early part of my adulthood, participating in the ‘sport’ of bodybuilding. I was risking my life, heaving chunks of iron-plates, and listening to heavy-metal music to hype myself up for my next set of bench-press or full-squats. I was surrounded by self-indulgent, narcissistic, body-worshipping bodybuilders who posed their muscles before spit-polished mirrors in gymnasiums with strategically-positioned lighting. In spite of anabolic-steroid induced muscle-heads around me, I managed to earn three bronzes and one silver medal on the national level, qualify for the national B-squad, and be utterly disappointed by the level of pharmaceutical-dependent cheats that held top-rostrum. I may have been naïve when I took up the sport as a natural bodybuilder, so after four futile attempts at the first-place, I decided to retire and seek new pastures for my creative outlets.

Corporate life lured me soon after my stint as a trade journalist, so I swapped pen-and-notepad for whiteboard-markers-and-notebook (actually, we had laptops then). I was involved in my company’s sports and recreation club, ran track for them (would you believe in my non-pet event, 4X400m), assist in setting up their first in-house gym, and then synergistically collaborated to secure bronze and silver awards for the National Health Awards. Meanwhile, my blood-pressure was holding court at normal, while my cholesterol and triglycerides levels were accumulating.

It was in 2001, when I met my colleague (and, subsequently, triathlon coach) that he planted his idea of sporting lifestyle in me…

(To be continued tomorrow)

Cheaters Never Prosper?

I was reading the last chapter of Chris Macca McCormack’s book ‘I’m Here To Win’ where he discusses his experiences with cheats in professional triathlon and other sports. He describes his disappointment on how the best, natural athletes lose out financially and on recognition.

So, when a cheat is tested and not found ‘positive’ in the results, did they still cheat? This calls to mind the allegory of ‘If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one to see or hear it, did the tree fall?’ I have confirmed in races that I have participated that age-groupers and professionals have been seen drafting behind others - without the drafting officials' notice - and get away with it. Did cheating or some form of dishonest behavior occur?

Some of the major sports that are fraught with rampant doping or drug use is include competitive bodybuilding and cycling. One is a subjective sport, while the other is more objective in measure. In 1990-1993, I competed actively in bodybuilding earning one runner-up and three 3^rd place wins. I was never the largest guy (on-stage, as well as on the reserved national team) as I was a natural ectomorph, that is, I tend to be muscular on the skinny side.

After realizing – much to my chagrin and naivety – that many of my competitors were using anabolic steroids (muscle-enhancing pharmaceuticals) to gain an unfair advantage, I quit the sport entirely. Consider this: you either see used syringes in the locker-room, or a personal trainer administer an intravenous shot to a member - you got to see it to believe it! On hindsight, I think the sport is silly, and definitely questionable as a real sport when it is an open secret that the top guys were ‘on the juice’. The competitive amateurs (there were no professional bodybuilders) cleverly used ‘cycle’ and ‘stacking’ techniques to build unnaturally large volumes of muscles. The whole sport is a circus when drug use and the fear of getting caught surrounds athletes like a somnambulistic haze. At least the performers in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) – formerly WWF – are entertaining us with their steroid-inflated bodies. Several big names wrestlers have died due to prolonged steroid-related complications. A few Hollywood action stars have used steroids as part of their onscreen preparation; one suffered a heart-attack (and survived, but not his scandal) and the other was charged for transport of banned pharmaceuticals.

I have met cheaters in gambling who resort to ‘invisible’ methods of deception to make financial gains. What they do is certainly wrong for they create an unfair advantage. When caught, historically, they suffered painful and even permanent consequences. You cannot fool the 'house' (casino) for the house usually wins. With sports cheats, I wonder if they can look at all their lacklustre trophies today and say, honestly, that they earned it? With magicians, at least, they have a disclaimer that states that they are ‘honest liars’ or ‘charming cheats’. Heard the saying before? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Who does this apply to?

The issue becomes a concern when amateurs resort to chemical assistance to earn podium places. Even if they trained very hard, how would you distinguish between the success from your training and drug use? If going to the world championships in Kona, Hawaii is the epitome of athleticism then what does using drugs spell? Tactics? Strategies? Being smart?

There are other creative ways to earn advantages in racing: working on each of the disciplines, faster transitions, scientific training, selecting the races that suit your body and fitness, nutrition, rest, rehabilitation, using coaches, and investing in the hard work. Cheating is best left to cheats. They gain from somebody’s loss, and that is unfair to the athletes, officials, the supporters and the entire sport.

For updates, look at the man in the mirror.

Leadership Lessons: How do you uphold the value of integrity? What is it about your integrity that matters most? How do you deliver fully on integrity when corporate office demands your absolute obeisance and obedience? What do you do when your integrity is questioned? How do you build trust in your relationships?