Durban - The high stakes up for grabs in long distance running has proved a powerful temptation to chemists to get athletes to dope – with tragic consequences, says Comrades Marathon legend Bob de la Motte.
Considered to be one of the greatest Comrades runners never to have won the ultramarathon, De la Motte said doping was a major concern.
He said it was not in keeping with the spirit of one of the greatest marathons in the world.
De la Motte, who spoke to the Daily News before the Durban launch of his book, Runaway Comrade, said the prize money at stake presented an opportunity for unscrupulous chemists.
“We all like to believe no one dopes, but it would be naive if we believed that because when the stakes are that high, chemists and doctors tend to want to get involved, which is tragic for the sport,” he said.
A retired chartered accountant and financier, De la Motte ran five Comrades in the 1980s and pushed Bruce Fordyce to a record finish. He finished runner-up to Fordyce three times between 1984 and 1987.
Although doping was a scary proposition for all sports, he felt this year’s marathon was a clean race – certainly among the top athletes.
“What I enjoyed this year is that the time the (male) winner ran was about one to two minutes slower than my time. And the way the field ran ... and the process of attrition – it looked like it was a clean race. Even in the women’s race, the finish was much, much slower than the record,” he said.
He said it was a real headache for race organisers to ensure the top athletes were dope free, and then there were the 31 middle-to-back runners who were flagged to have cut the course and taken lifts in last year’s race.
“Guys are getting lifts on the course – someone ran in the race and in the second half, he was faster than the winner. That’s not what Comrades is about,” he said, shaking his head.
“Any distance runner would be extremely disappointed, because we are purists. When one individual cheats it has that unfortunate effect because it blemishes the whole field. It’s like in cycling – when the best in the world is caught doping, it taints the image and people begin to wonder if your teammates are clean or are they all doing it. It’s a challenge of our society,” he said.
De la Motte said he ran with many great black runners such as Hoseah Tjale, Mark Plaaitjies, Thulani Sibisi, Sam Shabalala and Gabashane Vincent Rakabaele – who was the first black man to win the Two Oceans Marathon.
He was pained that it took six years for the running community in South Africa to find out about Rakabaele’s death in Lesotho, and said he would be donating the net proceeds of his book to ensuring that the elite black runners of the 1970s were taken care of.
He believed that the 1970s generation of black runners was as crucial to the dawn of the new South Africa as the likes of Mandela and Sisulu.
Would he do the Comrades again?
De la Motte prefers to look back on a varied and successful running career.
“I’m 60 now. I’ve had a fantastic time. I’ve run the Boston Marathon – this year at the age of 60. I’ve done Iron Man, Cape Epic, I’ve done a lot of different stuff…
“I drove over the Comrades route for the first time since I left and it is absolutely brutal, it is brutal, you can’t really express how tough it is.
“Whether you do it in 11 hours or five-and-a-half to six hours, it’s a tough course, so I have wonderful memories there,” he said, adding that his stepson was interested in doing the ultramarathon.
He said South Africa was on the right track and said local runners had done the country proud in this year’s race. He could not see why they would not continue to do the same in the future.
And using the Comrades and the Two Oceans marathons as examples of races that attract entries approaching 20 000, he said the marathons would continue to attract the best from around the world and continue to grow.