UK Sport and Coe

[harry]

Dids: I was a huge fan, huge supporter but yes sadly since June/ July I have gone over to the dark side and joined the cynics. I am usually very skeptical to let's run's horrible click bait tactics but after being convinced by the Aussies I do find let's run's coverage of this interesting because they are biased in favor of Paula as one of them paced her when she first broke the World record. I'm just interested/ obsessed by this case because yet again I feel fooled. I was a Lance fan and a Paula fan, a Mo & Galen fan.. I still am in a lot of ways but I have accepted that things are not quite what they seem...

Kitch: On not demonising dopers. Yes I see your point. It is complicated though. People are not good or bad like cartoons. The ones left with broken dreams have opted out of a culture they are morally/ ethically disgusted by. That's something I can relate to and these people should be proud of taking a stand and value their achievements on different terms.

[graeme]

Don't think we'll agree on Paula...

Actually, I think even harry would agree that she's the greatest English* female distance runner ever.

*

I'd go further, but just in case there are any Liz McColgan fans lurking out there...

[harry]

I've met Liz when I finished 2nd behind her in a 10k, i thought she was cool and badass and she invited me to train at her gym so obviously...

It totally depends how you define greatest.

I'm a big fan of Ingrid Kristiansen. Went for a run with her when I first moved to Trondheim. The team manager of Welsh Mountain running had put us in touch. She didn't stop talking.

All these women are impressive. Some of them are very good at controlling their narrative. Others like Liz and Ingrid just talk and talk and say things they shouldn't this makes them seem more authentic and for me more relatable. Stuff that I rate. Paula the greatest ever when it comes to performance but my personal heroes are people like Amy Schumer, Virginia Woolf, Dougal Haston and Gandhi. Between them they've taken a bunch of drugs and not run many marathons.

[graeme]

It totally depends how you define greatest.

Yes, I meant in terms of being good at distance running

she was cool and badass

And she got hit with a drug ban... (allegedly, this from memory as a story too good to check)

Back in about 2003, Scottish Athletics was run by one of those sports management professionals and a series of doormat chairmen. Distance running standards had got so low that even M40 "not-even-hasbeens"s were winning races. Liz became chair, with some, er, forthright views, and all the executive professionals quit. The XC "elite" were grousing, and looked to Liz to support them. What they hadn't bargained for was the elderly chairwoman pitching up to the National XC and leaving them all trailing in her wake. Much elite sheepishness ensued. The downside was that as Liz hadn't been registered on the drug monitoring programme, she wasn't allowed to go to the worlds.

As far as I can tell, the quality of Scottish distance running has been creeping up ever since.

[harry]

Haha good story. I was trying to make a point about how briefly meeting someone tells you very little about them and can make you biased. Liz has been widely reported as being 'badass' so to speak. During the 5 minute chat we had I really liked her.

For anyone who's interested in this story and not following the 'crowd source amateur journalism' going on over on lets run the latest claim they're making is that the WADA expert that Paula Radcliffe asked to look over her data was Martial Saugy. Allegedly a busy man.. and the plot thickens ... or maybe it's just a bunch of internet forum cynics 'jumping to conclusions'... you decide.

"Martial Saugy is a busy man..

Disposing of russian samples

Advising Lance Armstrong how to beat the EPO test

Clearing Paula Radcliffe of doping

He even pops up for Bernard Lagats B-sample analysis when they found all the problems with heat etc. and the case got thrown out

Read more: http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read. ... z3tBoUbr7B"