In this news item from early July, we have a Mr. Robert Qualls, a 72-year-old U.S. track and field athlete from Reno, Nevada, who was given a three-year ban by USTAF for using PEDs.

Qualls tested positive for amphetamine and 19-norandrosterone (a metabolite of nandrolone), as well as synthetic testosterone, following a urine sample collected at the USA Track & Field Masters 5km Championships on February 24, 2024.

His ineligibility began on April 2, 2024, and all his competitive results since February 24, 2024, have been disqualified.

Qualls had been an accomplished runner in recent years. He won the past six US Masters 5km titles and is the 70-plus 10k world champion. He also holds the American mile record for his age group with a time of 5min 33sec. Were those results also tainted by PEDs? I don't think we'll ever know.

Since July, and despite his ban, it's come out that Qualls used some subterfuge to compete at the Nevada Senior Games in early October. 

Registering under his middle name, Jerry, Qualls competed in the 800 m and 1500 m events. After race officials were notified of his actual identity, his results were DQ'd.

This is probably my favorite running news story of the year, only because it's so weird and strange, and I still have no idea what actually happened.

Here are the details:

At the Edmonton Marathon on Aug 18th, a University of Alberta student was detained by police after allegedly assaulting fellow runners at the 27 km mark.

The runner later claimed on Reddit that he was drugged with methamphetamine shortly after the race began, leading to erratic behavior, including running shirtless and obstructing others. He recounted being low on sleep, anxious, and rushed at the start, suspecting he was drugged after drinking from what he believed to be a legitimate water station.

The police restrained him, noting aggressive behavior, and released him later, without charges. No evidence of a fraudulent water station has been found.

The runner in question had documented his version of the events in a long Reddit post (now deleted) three days after the marathon on Aug 21st. In it, he claimed he accepted the spiked water from someone in the crowd around mile 1. And that's when things took a turn for the worst.

We still have no idea what the real story is. The Edmonton Police released a statement describing how they retained the runner after his aggressive behavior, but that he eventually calmed down, began acting normally, and they dropped him off at his home without any charges.

The part about being slipped meth at a water stop came from the runner in question. No one else in the marathon (that we know of) reported being drugged.

So, was this runner's drink spiked? Or did he just make that up to explain his behavior? Are there deeper issues here? I don't think we'll ever know.

Back in July, The San Francisco Marathon was overshadowed by a major error in the "City Half" half-marathon, which was mistakenly shortened by 0.6 mile.

Runners felt cheated, with one runner calling the error “completely mind boggling.”

Race organizers initially blamed a course certifier, but later admitted the error was their own, due to marking the course according to an incorrect map they had posted to their website.

In an attempt to make amends, they offered impacted runners a 50% discount on next year's half-marathon.

I found myself shaking my head at the event organizers for this race. Quite sad that they made such a huge mistake but couldn't own up to it.

I wish a had an update where they made a more heartfelt apology and did better than a 50% discount for the half runners who ran the shortened course. 

But they didn't.

We covered this in late July though the paper was published in May. 

This study, led by Stanford professor, Euan Ashley, conducted a comprehensive analysis involving multiple molecular profiles (such as transcriptome, proteome, metabolome, and more) across various tissues in male and female rats over eight weeks of endurance training.

In layman's terms, they studied rats who exercised to learn how endurance training affects immune function, metabolism, stress response, and mitochondrial pathways.

The findings provide greater insight and confirm that exercise has numerous health benefits, like lowering the risk of diseases and improving overall health by positively affecting almost every organ in the body.

We've known for a long time that exercise is good for us but in the medical community it was sold as a preventative measure, not a treatment. But as this and other studies have shown, exercise is more than preventative, it can also be a treatment for many diseases.

Hopefully, we're all getting plenty of exercise. But if you need a little extra motivation, here's a nice article about different persuasive methods doctors are using with their patients. I thought these were all great tips, even if you are exercising on a regular basis.

We Asked 7 Doctors: How Do You Get Patients to Exercise?

For the better part of 2024, when she wasn't running, Camille Herron, was editing her and other well-known ultrarunners Wikipedia pages to fluff up her achievements and diminish others.

One example: Herron removed the text, “widely regarded as one of the best trail runners ever” from Kilian Jornet and Courtney Dauwalter’s pages. Then added to her own page: “widely regarded as one of the greatest ultramarathon runners of all time.”

Edits were traced back to two Wikipedia accounts linked to Herron's email and her husband, Conor Holt's IP address. These accounts had previously been flagged for conflict-of-interest violations but were still able to actively edit Wikipedia.

Camille Herron is a world-class ultramarathon runner with multiple world records, including the 100-mile, 12-hour, and 24-hour distances. 

Everyone knew she was an amazing runner - she didn't need to fluff up her image on Wikipedia.

**Big hat tip to Marley Dickinson from Canadian Running magazine for uncovering this story back in September.**

As far as we know, Herron never directly responded to this story other than to initially deny it. She did, however, deactivate her social media accounts. 

Her husband, Conor Holt, sent an email to Let's Run, saying he was solely responsible for the edits. I don't think anyone believed him.

Herron was dropped by her main sponsor, Lululemon, shortly after the news was reported. She also attempted to run the Spartathalon, an ultra in Greece, but while leading for part of the race, dropped out.

Since then, Herron competed in the Soochow Track Invitational in Taipei, where she - according to her Instagram - set a new track 24Hr American Record of 263.004km. 

She also did a puff piece interview with Aravaipa Running that completely ignored the Wikipedia controversy.

North Face sponsored athlete, Michelino Sunseri, attempted to set a Fastest Known Time (FKT) for ascending and descending Grand Teton during Labor Day weekend.

While he did run up and down Grand Teton faster than any other previously recorded time, Sunseri cut a switchback during his descent, which violated national park rules and the arbitrators of FKTs DQ'd him from the "official" record. 

Additionally, Sunseri broke another park rule by using a closed trail - passing signs indicating the closure - to keep to the FKT route.

The North Face initially promoted Sunseri's achievement on Instagram but later removed the post after learning of the disqualification.

Couple updates. First, North Face doesn't seem to care that they got sucked into this mess. I guess they're taking to heart the old adage: there's no such thing as bad publicity. They resigned Sunseri as a 2025 North Face sponsor.

In other news, the two photographers who documented the faulty FKT, had been investigated by the National Park Service for recording without a permit. Those charges were dropped, however.

But the photographers are now suing the National Park Service for violating their first amendment rights.

They are looking to overturn what they call an “onerous, arbitrary, and unconstitutional permit-and-fee scheme that charges Americans for the right to film in public spaces.”

In September, we highlighted this story about how NYC run clubs are becoming popular alternatives to dating sites.

People, frustrated by the challenges of online dating, are joining these clubs to find romance while exercising. However, the clubs often mirror the drama of dating apps, with ghosting and awkward encounters.

While some enjoy the experience and the possibility of romance, others find it difficult to form connections in such large groups. Beyond dating, many appreciate the opportunity to meet new friends and socialize face-to-face.

And we saw further evidence of this trend with Strava's Year in Sports which noted the regular occurrence of runners stopping mid- and post-run for coffee or drinks.

No update for this news story. My guess is the trend will likely continue. Perhaps you are fed up with it like Sam Williams here: https://www.instagram.com/reel...

We're wrapping up our year in review with this story of perseverance we covered in early November.

Ultrarunner Jack Wiley made a dramatic finish at the Javelina Jundred, a 100-mile ultramarathon in Arizona, by crawling over the finish line with just 55 seconds to spare on the race’s 30-hour cutoff!

His determination was celebrated by the crowd, especially as the event’s “golden hour” draws the loudest cheers for finishers pushing to meet the cutoff. Here's the video.

I didn't see any other races for Wiley since Javelina or what he's registered for in 2025. But whatever he decides, we'll be cheering him on.

Happy holidays to everyone and hope those who celebrate Christmas had a great one! See you in 2025!