In this monthly article series, ultrarunner, race director, and coach Gabe Joyes answers reader questions about anything and everything running. Learn more about this ask-the-athlete column, and be sure to fill out the form below to submit your questions for a future article!

In this article, Gabe answers questions about structuring weekly mileage, “vertcovery,” pre-race checklists, and negotiating changing running relationships.

Gabe’s Tip of the Month

Has anyone ever excitedly asked you, “Are you ready for your big race?!” but they ask you days, or even weeks, before the actual race? For some of us, that question can be unhelpful and rather anxiety-provoking, because deep down inside, we don’t feel ready yet. In these circumstances, “not yet” is a perfectly good answer.

The truth is, you probably do not feel race-ready days or weeks before your race because you are likely still knee-deep in training. The only time you really need to feel race-ready is when you step up to that starting line — and feeling that way the day before helps too. So shake off the feeling that you should be race-ready long before you really need to be.

Weekly Mileage

What does my weekly mileage need to be to run a 100-mile race? -Jenar

My favorite part of being a coach is the creative side of the job. Each runner has their own unique athletic background, training history, work schedule, life obligations, and more. I find it fascinating how many different ways there are for two different people to be trained and prepared for the same event! Is there a set number of miles you need to be able to run in a given week to complete a 100-mile race? Definitely not.

Rather than thinking about mileage in terms of weekly totals, I find it helpful to consider it in terms of training effect. For example, compare two different 60-mile-per-week training plans. In the first, someone runs 10 miles a day for six days in a row, and then takes a day off. The second looks like this:

• Monday: Rest
• Tuesday: 8 miles with intervals
• Wednesday: 6 miles recovery
• Thursday: 9 miles at medium effort
• Friday: Active recovery
• Saturday: 25-mile long run
• Sunday: 12-mile long run

Clearly, both weekly plans get you to 60 miles, but the training effect and fitness outcome are completely different. I’ve seen various versions of the second option work time and time again for successful 100-mile races, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable sending someone to the starting line of a big race based on training from the first option. Many folks have found success in stacking three to four bigger training days in a row, followed by rest and some sort of active recovery or cross training, and have been rocking and ready for a 100-mile race.

There is even more flexibility and nuance with mileage per week when you start adding in other cross-training activities, like cycling, hiking, skiing, or other aerobic pursuits. Athletes can run mega distances on just long runs and high-intensity work, with the rest of their “mileage” coming from various forms of cross training.

I like to compare training plans to cooking dinner — you can bake, sauté, grill, or even slow-cook it, as long as it is cooked at the end. The same is true for training. There are many ways to prepare for a big goal race, and the path to get there might be as unique as you are! The weekly mileage viewpoint is just one way to measure training, and it certainly doesn’t tell the whole story of race preparation.

Vertcovery

Tell us more about your “vertcovery” runs! What are they, and how do they translate into your training? -Steph

Oh yes, Steph, the “vertcovery” question keeps coming up! The vertcovery workout is a mega-steep, low-intensity uphill hike, followed by an easy-effort, slow shuffle back down that steep hill. And by steep, I mean something like 15% to 35% grade. The timing of vertcovery in your training structure and the intensity of the workout are key here. This workout only provides an active recovery stimulus if it is very different from your training in the days before — like long bouts of running at higher intensity on flatter terrain. The stimulus you get from vertcovery is so markedly different from the fast, flat runs that it essentially serves as cross training. If you are unable to keep the intensity and your heart rate low for the steep uphill hike, unfortunately, this workout might not work for you. For context, when I do this workout, I might climb and descend close to 2,000 feet in an hour, but will only cover about 3.5 miles for the day. If that kind of terrain is not readily available to you, doing 30 to 45 minutes of steep uphill hiking on a treadmill can be a great substitute as well.

The key, though, is that you must truly be able to settle into hiking uphill at a very casual effort; then it is a great way to stay on your feet, training and recovering with tired legs.

Pre-Race Checklists

What are the details that I should have dialed in before my 100-mile race? I want to be as prepared as I possibly can be, but I always feel like I’m forgetting something. -Morgan

I know that feeling all too well, Morgan! I think this is a really important question because so often when runners don’t quite meet their race-day goals, it isn’t because they lacked fitness, but because they lacked the execution of the details. Here is a checklist to help create the race day experience you are looking for:

• Know your range of sweat rates in terms of liters per hour, and have the right hydration setup to drink what you actually need on race day.
• Know your sweat sodium concentration in terms of milligrams per liter, and the sodium-centric products ready to meet these goals.
• Dial in your fueling plan for taking in a steady and substantial amount of carbohydrates for the duration of the race. These are probably your very expensive sports nutrition products.
• Have a Fueling Plan B (this is probably just potato chips and peanut M&M’s).
• Have a Fueling Plan C (this is probably just the Coca-Cola-only fueling plan).
• Have shoes that are comfortable, fit well, have appropriate foam and tread for conditions, and have room for your feet to swell.
• Have a second pair of shoes that feel too big on a regular day but will be super comfortable when your feet swell to the size of Shaquille O’Neal’s U.S. size 22.
• Use socks that dry fast, grip inside your shoes, and stretch with your swollen feet.
• Choose clothes that minimize chafing so your post-race shower is more pleasant than painful. Bonus points if they look fast and make you feel cool.
• Lights? Poles? Other gear? Make sure you know how to use your equipment, how you will carry it, and that it won’t be a burden or headache on race day.
• Have a good understanding of what the race course is like, in terms of where the climbs and descents are, distances between aid stations, and where you’ll find your drop bags, crew, and pacers. It can be helpful to carry a tiny cheat sheet, either laminated or on your phone, because the numbers and locations will undoubtedly blend together after a while.
• Get race-day support that gives you energy and good vibes.
• Pre-problem-solve a list of all the things that could go wrong during the race, and come up with a plan ahead of time for how you will overcome those challenges.
• Have a vision for the race-day experience you are looking for, and understand what it will take from you and your support crew to make this vision a reality. Make it happen!

Evolving Running Relationships

I have been running with my best running friend for years, and we have always been about the same pace, but now that I have been dedicated to training for a 100-mile race, I am much faster than she is. I don’t want to stop running with my friend — or hurt her feelings in any way — but I would like to keep improving my speed and get fitter, too. Help!  -Naomi

The fact that you care so much about how your friend feels already shows that you are a great running partner! You can definitely still make this work, Naomi, with some good communication on your part and some intentional training strategies. I definitely get the challenge, though, as a couple of my favorite running partners in the world are typically a step or two slower than I am, but I still run with them whenever I get the chance because it is just so fun.

The first elephant in the room to acknowledge is that sometimes the difference in pace could make your friend feel uncomfortable or self-conscious, which is understandable. I always make it abundantly clear that if I agree to run with someone, it is because I want to run with them, and not race them, ditch them, drag them along, or anything like that. Make clear the shared goals of the day: We are going to stick together. Also, be sensitive that you and your running partner might be getting different training stimulus from the workout — they might be breathing hard going uphill, and you might be feeling pretty relaxed. Play that down, don’t make it a thing, and remember the goal is to enjoy being out there together — pace be damned!

As far as fitting these slower-paced runs into a thoughtful training plan, it is helpful to get in a harder effort — like intervals or a long run — in the day or two before running with your friend. That way, you get the training your body needs, and a dialed-back effort with your friend will also be just what your body needs.

But really, even if you do a couple of runs that are all-around just slower than you would prefer, keep in mind those slower paces are just part of endurance running as well. If you look at your paces from the back half of your last ultra, you’ll probably find that they are even slower than the pace you are running with your friend. Practicing that back-half pace every now and then is a good reality check and a good way to prepare for a race, too.

Lastly, I am certain that the best memories created from this sport are not PRs and top race finishes, but the time we spend out there trotting around and creating memories with the people we care about the most.

Submit Your Questions

Send us your questions! Use the form below or send us a message on Instagram, and we’ll consider your questions for future articles.

Call for Comments

• What are your thoughts on Gabe’s answers this month?
• What pressing running questions have you always wanted answers to?

Ask the Pro: Weekly Mileage, Vertcovery, and Pre-Race Planning by Gabe Joyes.

The Golden Trail World Series and Skyrunner World Series both had races, and there were quite a few 50-kilometer races around the U.S. on the country’s Memorial Day holiday weekend.

You can also check out our race coverage from earlier in the week:

• Finland’s Satu Lipiäinen Sets Women’s 6-Hour World Record

Ledro Sky Trentino – Valle di Ledro, Italy

The 22k race was the year’s second Golden Trail World Series (GTWS), or Global Trail World Series, as it was mistakenly called on the HBO broadcast a few times. Only a week after the Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon, a few runners doubled back from the series opener. Surely there was some points calculus between the two contests to maximize series standings. This one was the GTWS grand finale in 2025 on this same course.

Women

Start to finish, it was a runaway win for Caroline Kimutai (Kenya). Also the 2025 Sierre-Zinal winner, Kimutai pulled away from the chasers within the first 10 minutes and stayed in front the rest of the way. Kimutai won in 2:15, and that was over seven minutes faster than Lauren Gregory’s winning time on this course in last year’s race.

The 2025 series winner, Mădălina Florea (Romania), gave a big push on the race’s second half downhill. She couldn’t catch Kimutai, but got away from everyone else. Florea was second in 2:17, a seven-minute improvement on her second-place finish here last year.

The 2024 series winner, Joyce Njeru (Kenya), was third in 2:21, and Nina Engelhard (Germany) was fourth in 2:23. This was, I believe, Engelhard’s first GTWS race. In 2025, she was a double world champion across the World Mountain Running Championships Uphill and Up and Down races in Spain.

The top 10 women were:

1. Caroline Kimutai (Kenya) – 2:15:48
2. Mădălina Florea (Romania) – 2:17:52
3. Joyce Njeru (Kenya) – 2:21:54
4. Nina Engelhard (Germany) – 2:23:29
5. Andrea Kolbeinsdóttir (Iceland) – 2:24:58
6. Ruth Gitonga (Kenya) – 2:30:10
7. Fabiola Conti (Italy) – 2:31:44
8. Marie Nivet (France) – 2:31:46
9. Silvia Schwaiger (Slovakia) – 2:32:04
10. Céline Aebi (Switzerland) – 2:32:46

Men

Respect. You’ve got to give it to Elhousine Elazzaoui (Morocco). Only a week ago, he beat a stacked field at the Zegama Marathon, and then came back and did it again here. In contrast, none of Elazzaoui’s top challengers here raced last week.

Elazzaoui stayed just off the lead Kenyan trio early. He caught them before the course’s high point and eventually ruled the race’s final downhill kilometers. It’s both frustratingly predictable and increasingly impressive. Elazzaoui races like this over and over, and no one can beat him. This one was a little more profound than most GTWS men’s races. Elazzaoui won by over a minute. He was almost three minutes better than his own winning time in this race last year, too.

Behind the winner, Philemon Kiriago (Kenya) got past Michael Selelo Saoli (Kenya) for second by a four-second margin, both finishing in 1:57, and Samwel Kiprotich (Kenya) was fourth in 1:58.

Seven of the top 10 men were Kenyan.

The top 10 men were:

1. Elhousine Elazzaoui (Morocco) – 1:55:48
2. Philemon Kiriago (Kenya) – 1:57:07
3. Michael Selelo Saoli (Kenya) – 1:57:11
4. Samwel Kiprotich (Kenya) – 1:58:16
5. Patrick Kipngeno (Kenya) – 2:00:43
6. Paul Machoka (Kenya) – 2:01:19
7. Jan Torrella (Spain) – 2:01:34
8. Ezekiel Rutto (Kenya) – 2:02:40
9. Isacco Costa (Italy) – 2:02:57
10. Nashon Kiplimo (Kenya) – 2:04:24

Full results.

The next Golden Trail World Series race is the Quebec Mega Trail in Canada on July 5, quite a ways off.

Skyrace Gorges Du Tarn – St. Enimie, France

The race was part of the Skyrunner World Series, but it didn’t attract many of the series’ top runners.

Racing on a looped 25k course with more than 1,800 meters of climbing, Patricia Pineda (Spain) earned her second consecutive win at the event in 3:00. Eva Delafosse (France) and Alice Bausseron (France) were next in 3:04 and 3:09.

Only 20 seconds separated the top two men, Baptiste Massot (France) and Tom Spencer (U.K.). Both finished in 2:34. Third-place Finlay Grant (U.K.) was about two minutes back of the winner in 2:36.

Full results.

It’s nearly a full month until the next Skyrunner World Series race on June 20 in China at the Yading Skyrace.

Mozart 100k by UTMB – Fuschl am See, Austria

The event moved from Salzburg to a start and finish just east of town to take in more alpine trails.

In the 120k race, Jana Dobrovolná (Czech Republic) and Alessandro Affolati (Italy) won in 13:25 and 11:42.

The 72k race had Severine Petersen (Germany) and Miłosz Szcześniewski (Poland) on top in 7:50 and 6:14.

Isabell Speer (Austria) and Tobias Geiser (Italy) won the 44k marathon-ish race in 3:38 and 3:18, respectively.

Full results.

Additional Races and Runs

Cape Town Marathon – Cape Town, South Africa

The road marathon had at least one familiar name. Past 50k world record-holder Stephen Mokoka (South Africa) was 13th in 2:10:48. Full results.

London 2 Brighton Ultra Challenge – Brighton, United Kingdom

In the 100k race, Emily Fairs and Henry Hart won in 10:50 and 8:22. Full results.

Transylvania 100k – Bran, Romania

Host country runners Oana Marina and Alin Bâtea won in 17:19 and 16:18. Social media showed 100k runners navigating some very icy mountainsides in challenging weather. Full results.

Stumptown Trail Runs 50k – Portland, Oregon

Inside Portland’s Forest Park, Kelly Flaminio won the women’s race, Baby Timm won the non-binary category, and Ajay Hanspal won it for the men in 5:22, 4:12, and 3:51. Full results.

Bear Mountain – Mission, British Columbia, Canada

At Bear Mountain Park, Jenny Quilty and Brandon Miller won the 30k in 3:01 and 2:47. Full results.

Sugar Badger 50/50 – Belleville, Wisconsin

The races were on the Badger Trail and the Sugar River Trail, and 50-mile winners Andrea Stabelfeldt and Martin Erl ran 7:30 and 6:07. Jen O’Leary and Reese Slobodianuk were 50k champs in 4:58 and 3:16. Full results.

Leavenworth Trail Fest 50k – Leavenworth, Washington

In the 50k, Anna Louden and Carter Shae won in 4:53 and 4:16, and Caroline Alcorta and Max King led the 25k in 2:10 and 1:46. Full results.

May Madness 50k – Hoffman, North Carolina

The race was 10 consecutive 5k loops, starting at the top of each hour. Anne Popek and Jeffrey Bochey won in 4:33 and 3:47. Full results.

Drummer Hill Trail Races 50k – Keene, New Hampshire

A small 50k field was led by Alanna April and Marty Nelligan in 6:41 and 4:21. Full results.

Trail Festival at Pineland Farms – New Gloucester, Maine

In the 100k, it was Nicole Negowetti and Jason Bigonia winning in 11:23 and 9:05, and Deidre Lowe and Sapan Bhatt were fastest in the 50k in 5:01 and 3:30. Full results.

Call for Comments

It’s the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the U.S., and the giant BolderBoulder 10k in Colorado is today. Andy Wacker is in the elite race. Might any of Boulder’s other top trail runners race, too?

This Week In Running: May 25, 2026 by Justin Mock.

We are clearly in a golden age of modern technology and innovation in the sports of trail running and ultrarunning. It seems like every other week, some new cool device, invention, or formula emerges to seemingly push the sport even further into the future.

As an experienced ultrarunner, I have had to learn to adapt to these changes and challenges while also sticking to my guns on the things I believe are at the core of the sport. As a result, I would like to share three modern changes I like and have embraced, and three I do not like and could do without.

Positive Changes

Shoes

The evolution in shoe technology has quite literally saved my running career. Due to four hip surgeries over the past decade, I have had to adapt my training and my body to a new reality. Advancements in foam technology, as well as carbon-plated shoes, have enabled me to continue to enjoy running even as my body has, from time to time, rebelled.

Nutrition

It was not too long ago that many of us struggled to figure out the eternal mystery of ultrarunning and nutrition. A decade or so ago, it seemed like everyone had an opinion of what worked and what didn’t, and there were no clear answers anywhere. Advances in science, as well as truly revolutionary research, have allowed the sports nutrition industry to dial in some current best practices for runners, even mid-to-back-of-the-packers like me, and eliminate much of the guesswork that once dominated the sport. While much research remains to be done in this area, progress has been great.

GPS Watches

Those of us who’ve been around for a while remember the days when the distance of most of our trail runs was simply a guesstimate. We often had to count on outdated U.S. Forest Service maps to give us just an inkling of how far we had to go to the next aid station. Not anymore! The advent of the GPS watch with pace-per-mile splits, maps, and other cool features — many of which I don’t understand — has given us a much truer sense of our training and racing and the tools we need to make it longer in the sport.

Negative Changes

Phones

If there is one thing about running that I have always cherished, it’s that it provides me a daily opportunity to get away from the distractions of life and focus solely on the task at hand. Unfortunately, these days, the ubiquitous cell phone provides nearly constant distraction, and as a result, I choose to never bring my phone with me when I run — unless it is required by the event I am participating in, or my wife makes me, and even then, I keep it turned off until I need it. When I tell people this, most folks look at me dumbfounded as they can’t imagine spending two to three hours on a Saturday morning untethered from their phones. As for me, I’ll take untethered any day!

Headphones

I understand that many people like to spend time on their runs listening to music or catching up on their favorite podcasts. Not me! I gave up using headphones while running long ago. Running gives me the opportunity to connect with my surroundings through all five senses. The sights, smells, and sounds I encounter while running on my favorite trail are what make the experience whole for me. Depriving myself of hearing birds chirping or the rushing river beside me lessens the experience and makes it incomplete.

Influencers

There is no doubt that social media has opened up the world of trail running and ultrarunning to a whole new population that may never have found it otherwise. Websites, podcasts, and videos provide would-be runners with an up-close-and-personal look at the sport that was, for years, mysterious and unreachable. Along the way, running influencers emerged and now have a disproportionate impact on the sport’s social media. While I understand the commercial value these folks bring to the sport, I can’t help but long for the simpler days when the influencing took place in person, out on the trails, or around the campfire afterward.

Trust Me

And there you have it, my take on the pros and cons of modern technology and innovation in trail running and ultrarunning. Here’s hoping some of you can leave your phones behind, shed the headphones, and be influenced by what’s on the inside rather than all the noise on the outside. Trust me, it’s worked for decades!

Bottoms up!

AJW’s Beer of the Week

This week’s Beer of the Week comes from Watertown Brewing Company in Watertown, South Dakota. Codington Cream Ale is a deliciously crisp take on a classic style, brewed with regional malt and a touch of corn. It is a surprisingly smooth, sweet cream ale perfect for any occasion.

Call for Comments

• What technological innovations from recent years do you love? What are some that you could do without?
• Do you agree with AJW’s pros and cons?

The Pros and Cons of Modern Technology and Innovation by Andy Jones-Wilkins.

On May 16, 2026, Finland’s Satu Lipiäinen set a new women’s 6-hour world record by running 85.712 kilometers (53.258 miles) at the 2026 Kokkola Ultra Run, held in her home country. She broke the previous world record, set in 2017 by Nele Alder-Baerens of Germany at 85.492 (53.122) kilometers, by 234 meters.

The Kokkola Ultra Run, held in the Finnish west-coast town of Kokkola, is an IAU Bronze Label race and featured 6-, 12-, and 24-hour races over the weekend. The record is currently pending ratification. Lipiäinen is no stranger to the course, as she set a new women’s 12-hour record at the same event in 2023.

Lipiäinen’s average pace was 4:12 minutes per kilometer (6:45 minutes per mile). Writing on her Instagram after the race, Lipiäinen explained that she was able to hold her goal pace of 4:00 minutes per kilometer for the first couple of hours, and she completed the first marathon in 2:50. The next few hours were difficult for Lipiäinen as she struggled with her energy levels and started to lose confidence in setting a new world record. In the final hour, realizing that she was feeling better, she increased her effort again to secure the record. Telling of the effort, she said, “The final hour was spent in some kind of flow state.”

Reflecting on the effort, she said, “The world record was the goal, and I knew it was within reach. However, there are so many variables in ultrarunning, and six hours is a brutal discipline in that there is no room for mistakes. Even now, you could calculate that, for example, a one-minute toilet break would have cost me the record.” She went on to say, “Although the result is not a surprise to me, it feels really good to run an almost perfect race; those are rare in ultrarunning.”

The record shows a return to form for Lipiäinen, who became a mother on the last day of 2024 and seemed to step back from racing in 2025. In addition to her 2023 12-hour world record, Lipiäinen was fifth at the 2022 IAU 100k World Championships, running 7:15.

The Kokkola Ultra Run course is half gravel and half tarmac, measuring 862.7 meters and featuring about one meter of elevation gain per lap. Lipiäinen ran 99 laps of the course.

Full results.

Finland’s Satu Lipiäinen Sets Women’s 6-Hour World Record by Eszter Horanyi.

The first time I was given an out-of-competition drug test, I was teaching. We were in the middle of the Age of Exploration unit, and I was introducing my eighth-grade Medieval History class to Ferdinand Magellan. Like Magellan, I embarked on my own adventure into the unknown when two figures appeared outside my classroom — the Head of School and a doping control officer.

The officer escorted me down the hallway for a drug test in the faculty kitchen. I ground my teeth, worrying — not about the outcome of my drug test but about what my students would tell their parents at the end of the day: “Magellan died before the expedition was complete, and Mrs. Little was tested for drugs.”

I am now far removed from the days of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) surprise visitations. Retrospectively, I am grateful for the inconvenient, sometimes awkward, intrusions in my days. Clean sport is worth protecting. Because if running is not clean, then what is the point?

Integrity for the Non-Elite Runner

Over the past year, there has been a growing discourse about whether non-elite runners should be subject to the same ethical standards as elite-level and professional runners.

For example, does it matter if runners take performance-enhancing drugs, such as anabolic steroids or amphetamines, if they are unlikely to win a race (1)? This is not an abstract question. A recent U.K. Anti-Doping survey found that one-third of people in the U.K., ages 16 to 25, have purchased performance-enhancing drugs (2), and an estimated three to four million Americans use unregulated, unsupervised performance-enhancing drugs (3). These are significant numbers.

Banned supplements are nothing new in sports and fitness culture. However, we are currently seeing an increase in certain drugs among athletes. For example, anxieties about appearance, attributed to social media use, have contributed to the rise of anabolic-androgenic steroids in men (4). Also, certain drugs and supplements are advertised on social media as shortcuts to improve body composition, both to support sports performance and to satisfy aesthetic trends. Runners may be susceptible to these trends. According to a 2024 study, 16.3% of anonymous samples given by ultrarunners at an event tested positive for banned substances (5).

For those who care about clean sport, these statistics are worrying. If clean sport matters for runners within a sports culture in which performance-enhancing drugs are increasingly common (6), we should be able to defend its importance.

This is what I intend to do here. Here are five reasons why clean sport matters for the non-elite runner.

The Line Between Professional and Non-Professional Runners is Permeable

Last year, I had the chance to sit courtside at a basketball game. I was close enough that my shoes caught some sweat. When one of the taller players fell to the floor, my body shook with the impact. I felt like I was part of the spectacle, out there with the players. But let’s be clear; I was not.

This is a key difference between elite-level competition in running versus in other sports. In basketball, you don’t just hop onto the court with LeBron James. But in running, the masses line up alongside the professionals. Sure, many are significantly slower, but they run the same races on the same courses.

Runners receive placings continuous with the professionals, and there is often intermingling between the slowest professionals and the fastest amateurs. The competitive difference is one of degree, rather than kind.

In trail running and ultrarunning — where competitive density is lower, and there are fewer professional contracts — the intermingling of professional and non-professional runners happens all the time. The idea that there are two separate classes — those competing for podiums and those who are not — is absurd. When you line up to compete, you are in the race. Anything can happen.

This is the first case for maintaining consistent ethical norms. Without this consistency, we need separate placement categories, and we should desist comparisons between groups.

Racing is a Game, and Games Have Constraints

My husband and I do not like board games. If we are going to sit still, we would rather read. For this reason (and others), we were pleased to have found each other. We assumed that we would not have to play Monopoly again for the rest of our lives. Unfortunately, our kids are not on the same page. They are games people. So last week, we purchased our first family board game — Candyland.

A few hours later, we found ourselves sitting on the living room floor with our two flustered daughters. “You can’t just move your figurine anywhere you want,” I advised my three-year-old. “The rules are what make Candyland a cooperative social practice.”

Games are defined in two ways — positive and negative, or in terms of what you can do and what you can’t. In Candyland, you can move your piece to a yellow square if you choose a yellow card. You can’t move your piece to a yellow square if you select a purple card. You can move your own piece. You can’t move your sister’s piece. In the running context, you can race in sneakers, but you can’t wear rollerblades. You can eat a banana, but you can’t take EPO.

Oddly, limitations (or negative rules) are part of what makes games fun. In his 2020 book, “Games: Agency as Art,” C. Thi Nguyen describes limitations as a feature, rather than a bug, of games. Games are often limited by inefficient, narrow constraints or rules, and yes, under certain descriptions, these rules undermine our autonomy (7). We cannot do whatever we wish to do when we participate in a game. However, when we willingly enter a game, the rules can expose us to different forms of agency, or possibilities for exercising our wills.

Rules can also facilitate creativity. We strive and puzzle through how to improve, given our limitations. We honor our constraints, rather than begrudge them.

An example in running is that training volume and intensity are limited by the body’s recovery capacity. You can only perform so much work before it becomes unproductive. Often, the life of the runner consists of puzzling through how to accomplish more work in a week without flagging (hence, double thresholds and incorporating speedwork into long runs). If a runner suddenly starts taking EPO or other banned substances — such that her barriers to absorbing work are eliminated — sure, she can run more. However, this ceases to be the same game, involving the same puzzle of how to creatively strive within natural constraints. This runner is no different than the child taking double jumps in Candyland.

Performance-Enhancing Drugs May Pose Health Risks

If you dope, you may become ill. This is one of the reasons why drugs are often banned from sports in the first place (8).

For example, androgenic-anabolic steroids and steroid precursors can cause cancers, cardiovascular issues, psychosis, and liver damage (9). These drugs are often unregulated and taken without supervision, which can be dangerous (10). Many steroids have production issues such as contamination, product dosing inconsistencies, and hygiene concerns (11). EPO can cause heart attacks and strokes, and certain stimulants can cause tremors and heart issues (12).

A common reason why people run is to preserve good health. Doping can undermine this objective.

Runners Come From Somewhere

Before I ran professionally, I ran in local turkey trots and five-kilometer races. I was raised by a community of local runners who welcomed me into the sport and taught me how to compete well — to congratulate the person who beat me, to make new friends on the warm-up and cool down, and to run courses with integrity, rather than cutting corners or otherwise making the playing field unfair.

This is another reason why we should maintain consistent moral norms across non-professional and professional racing: Professional runners do not just materialize from thin air. They are introduced to the sport and mentored through the running community at large. If that community has a cavalier attitude toward drugs, or is broadly complicit in illicit supplementation, this makes compunctions around drugs less acute at all levels of the sport.

This will impact the posture of elites toward performance-enhancing drug use. Is this really what we want in an era of growing disillusionment with peak performances?

Striving is the Point

Consider why you joined the sport in the first place. Maybe you wanted to see what you were capable of — to do the best you possibly could, overcoming your perceived limitations.

This is the “spirit of sport.” It is an aesthetic value that captures something like the kindergarten spirit of play. You line up at recess and see who is the toughest or quickest, unaided and unenhanced. It is not a measurement of shoe technology or exogenous substances. It’s about people striving honestly together and being edified by the effort.

Incorporating drugs into this process — no matter how fast you are — undermines the process of edification. Cheating makes measures of progress meaningless and diminishes the transformative value of the sport.

Final Thoughts and a Call for Comments

So, if clean sport is worth defending, how should we enforce doping norms among the masses? Honestly, I am not sure we can. Doping control is expensive, and we already do a poor job of testing elites. Also, many people are prescribed banned drugs for therapeutic reasons. For example, a runner may be prescribed an inhaler for asthma or hormone replacement therapy to preserve bone health. It seems unrealistic to require that an amateur athlete submit a therapeutic use exemption to document their prescriptions for banned substances. This is a lot of paperwork, and it is unclear who would be responsible for reviewing it. So, where does this leave us? Should we just give up the idea of clean sport?

I think it is possible to support a norm (competing clean) without policing therapeutic and non-therapeutic drug use in non-elites. This should probably start with education about why doping is a problem — both for personal health and for the sport as a whole. Also, leaders in the running community could publicly advocate for clean sport.

A few years ago, the Clean Sport Collective invited athletes to pledge to train and compete clean (13). Maybe we could start something like that to instruct runners about which actions are impermissible in competition and to generate enthusiasm and consensus for competing above reproach.

So, this is a modest proposal because I do not know how to fix things. I am thoroughly convinced that doping is not a healthy norm for the sport, but I do not know how we can feasibly defend clean sport. Any ideas?

[Editor’s Note: We know this is a sensitive topic, and we welcome discussion of this story in the comments section. Comments violating our comment policy, designed to foster constructive dialogue, will be removed. Thank you.]

Notes/References

1. Another question concerns whether it is acceptable for non-professional runners to race in shoes that violate World Athletics’ 40-millimeter maximum stack height. This is too much to undertake in a short article.
2. M. Lawton. 11 May 2026. Third of young people have bought ‘life-threatening’ performance-enhancing drugs. The Times. Web <https://www.thetimes.com/article/uk-anti-doping-young-people-performance-enhancing-drugs> Accessed 12 May 2026.
3. M. Hastings. 3 June 2025. Jacked: Rising use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs carries risks. University of Colorado Anschutz. Web <https://news.cuanschutz.edu/news-stories/jacked-rising-use-of-steroids-and-other-performance-enhancing-drugs-carries-risks> Accessed 12 May 2026.
4. Beos, N., Kemps, E., & Prichard, I. (2025). Relationships between social media, body image, physical activity, and anabolic-androgenic steroid use in men: A systematic review. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 26(1), 105–128.
5. Robach P, Trebes G, Buisson C, Mechin N, Mazzarino M, Garribba F, Roustit M, Quesada JL, Lefèvre B, Giardini G, DE Seigneux S, Botré F, Bouzat P. 2024. Prevalence of Drug Use in Ultraendurance Athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 56(5): 828-838.
6. Dandoy, C., & Gereige, R. S. (2012). Performance-enhancing drugs. Pediatrics in review, 33(6), 265–272.
7. Nguyen, CT. 2020. Games: Agency as Art. Oxford University Press, 74-5.
8. See USADA. Effects of Performance-Enhancing Drugs. Web <https://www.usada.org/substances/effects-of-performance-enhancing-drugs/> Accessed 13 May 2026.
9. Dandoy, C., & Gereige, R. S. 2012; A. Al Hamid, L. Alomani, A. Aljuresan, W. Alahmad, Z. Alluwaim. 2025. Steroid and illicit drug abuse in the health and fitness community: A systematic review of evidence. Emerging Trends in Drugs, Addictions, and Health. 5: 100172.
10. M. Hastings. 3 June 2025.
11. Gibbs N. (2023). #Sponseredathlete: the marketing of image and performance enhancing drugs on Facebook and Instagram. Trends in organized crime, 1–40.
12. Mayo Clinic. 2023. Performance-enhancing drugs: Know the risks. The Mayo Clinic. Web <https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/performance-enhancing-drugs/art-20046134 > Accessed 12 May 2026.
13. USADA. “The Clean Sport Collective.” See https://www.usada.org/spirit-of-sport/five-voices-fighting-for-clean-sport/

The Ethics of the Non-Professional Runner by Sabrina Little.