Columbus 10k, Carmel Road Racing Group Adopt Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Anti-Doping Policy
April 7, 2016 - Race directors in the Midwest region have come together in an effort to maintain an environment that ensures fair competition and clean sport by adopting the same anti-doping policy as instituted by the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in 2015. The Columbus 10k along with the Carmel Road Racing Group will no longer accommodate coaches and athlete representatives who have demonstrated a pattern of involvement with systematic doping under this unique policy that includes agents who represent athletes with suspensions.
The Columbus 10k is the oldest road race in Columbus, Ohio and will take place on June 5, 2016. Andy Harris, Race Director, stated, "The Columbus 10K believes in clean sport and the true spirit of competition. To ensure that all competing athletes are working with the same set of tools toward a common goal, we have opted to implement what we believe is a very fair anti-doping policy instated by the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in 2015. It is our hope that other events will follow the lead of the Monumental Marathon and provide opportunities for clean athletes to be recognized for their honest and hard work."
The Carmel Road Racing Group (CRRG) hosts a number of events in the Indianapolis area including their signature event, the Carmel Marathon taking place on April 16, 2016. Race Director and CRRG President Todd Oliver has adopted the anti-doping policy at all CRRG events. CRGG also stages the Indy Women's Half Marathon and 5k, the 13th largest women's-only half marathon in the US.
The full policy is as follows:
To be eligible for elite entry or prize purse an athlete must:
- Not be currently serving a suspension for use of a banned substance
- Not have ever served a ban for use of performance enhancing drugs
- Not be represented by coaches and/or agents who have had 2 or more such suspensions by their athletes in the previous 4 years
- Not be represented by coaches and/or agents who ever served a ban for use of performance enhancing drugs during their own athletic career
- Provide proper documentation proving they are eligible for prize money (form W-9, W-8ECI or W-8BEN)
- Consent to random drug testing according to the standards and procedures of USATF, USADA and WADA
"We always work hard to protect and elevate the achievements of all of our participants, especially our elite athletes," said Blake Boldon, Executive Director of the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, "Our goal in creating this policy was to support those athletes and do everything we can to promote clean sport and equitable competition. As an event that has built a tradition of providing fast races and producing Olympic Trials qualifying times the work ethic and integrity demonstrated by our invited athletes is second-to-none, and our policy reflects our commitment to these values."
The policy will be in effect for all of the mentioned events, as well as the Monumental Mile on June 2, 2016, and the Indianapolis Half Marathon and 5k on October 8, 2016.
The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon provides the Indianapolis community with a complement of activities built around our premiere event that promotes healthy living & fitness for all ages (both runners and walkers.) The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon gives back to the Indianapolis community by supporting youth programming that reinforces healthy lifestyles for young people, with an emphasis on working with urban students and Indianapolis Public Schools, with donations totaling more than $675,000. The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon was recently named one of the "Top Nine Best New Marathons" by Runners' World and the ninth running is scheduled for Nov. 5, 2016. (MonumentalMarathon.com.
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