Recently, Baltimore Orioles baseball star Rafael Palmeiro was in the news. First, he testified on Capitol Hill that he had never used steroids. Then, not long afterward, Major League Baseball suspended him for steroid use. He now hedges his steroid denial, saying that he has never "intentionally" used steroids. Accused drug cheaters are now widespread in baseball, with the ranks of the accused including such stars as record setting home run hitters Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire. Likewise, seven-time Tour de France bicycle race winner Lance Armstrong has long fended off accusations of drug use, with suspicions raised by his consultation of an Italian coach connected to a history of drug suspensions. Everywhere we turn, there are high-profile athletes being accused of illegal drug use.

The will to win has long caused athletes to cut corners, and running is no exception. In 1980 I ran the Boston Marathon. As my race fell apart after 22 miles, I saw the first woman, Jackie Gareau of Canada, steam by me. I never saw the woman who was crowned the winner, Rosie Ruiz of New York City. Ruiz didn't pass anybody else in the first 22 miles, either, and she was eventually disqualified. She was later found to have ridden the subway to get from the start of the New York Marathon to the finish. Masters runners cheat, too. I knew one runner who claimed to have won the steeplechase in the national masters track championship. I checked, and his name did not appear in the official results. Later, he recorded astounding performances (far better than usual) at both the Marine Corps Marathon and the Boston Marathon. At Boston, he went to the trouble of passing the starting line chip checkpoint, half-way chip checkpoint, and finish line, but was not seen on video at any intermediate point. He was disqualified for life, and now no longer competes, even in his hometown.

Even for runners who actually complete the distance, there is a long history of cheating in running. The Eastern Bloc countries are now well known to have had an active steroid program in the 1960's, 70's, and 80's, with the women athletes recording astonishing world records and often looking grotesquely and artificially muscular. As steroid testing got better, such blatant steroid use began to be caught, and the playing field was leveled. This did not keep such athletes as banned Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson from using prodigious amounts of steroids and recording monstrous performances.

Even 25 years ago, the temptation for aspiring distance runners to use steroids and other drugs was very real. When my times improved to the point that I was defeating some national caliber runners, I was approached by a trainer who said he could get me "anything I want." I declined, but I am sure there were many who did not.

Based on my knowledge of the sport, there are many drugs that runners use to improve their performance. Steroids, the most famous of the performance-enhancing drugs, work best for women (and perhaps older men). Many young men can become too bulked up by taking steroids, and their distance running performance can suffer. Human growth hormone is another drug, more difficult to test for, that has steroid-like muscle-enhancing effects. Some runners also use anti-asthma inhalers, which may actually be performance enhancing for normal runners. The sports agencies have begun to crack down on the illicit use of inhalers. Except for national meets and top-rank marathons, there is little drug testing in distance running. At the masters level there is almost no drug testing.

The drug of choice for distance runners is EPO. EPO is a drug that enhances the production of red blood cells, increasing the blood's oxygen-carrying capabilities. There have now been many runners caught using EPO. The poor man's EPO is "blood doping," a technique brought into the spotlight in the 1970's when the Finns were accused of using it before the 1972 Olympics. In blood doping, blood is taken from the runner some months ahead of time; the red blood cells are separated from the rest of the blood, and then reinjected into the body shortly before the targeted competition.

The reason runners use these methods is that, properly done, they really can improve performance. Unfortunately, there is a significant negative side. Use of steroids has been linked to heart attacks at a young age and various types of cancers, especially testicular cancer. Many suspected that it was not coincidence that Florence Griffith Joyner, the Olympic Gold medalist sprinter, showed such a phenomenal physical transformation in a short time, and then died of heart trouble in her 30's. EPO has also been blamed for many athlete deaths (most of them cyclists), with the wrong dosage having turned the blood to sludge.

The future of drug use in running is likely to make today's methods look like child's play. Currently being researched in medical labs are techniques that involve injections to literally change the muscle's DNA. Such methods can engineer whatever kind of muscle the athlete wants, with a marathon runner, for example, having just the right blend of fast twitch and slow twitch muscles, using a method that is, for all practical purposes, undetectable. By the 2008 Olympics, or 2012 at the latest, we should see astonishing gains in all sports, as the first wave of genetic cheaters bioengineers the perfect musculature.

Where will it all end? I'm not sure, but I can't help but notice the parallel with the battle between amateurism and professionalism in the early 1900's. At that time, any athlete who took money for competing or who hired a professional coach was considered no better than a cheat. By the end of the 20th Century, though, professionalism had taken over in all top-level sports. Maybe the end solution is to stop testing for cheaters. If cheating is legalized, then there will be no cheaters. Sure, the athletes will be freaks who have serious health risks and short life expectancies, but maybe that is what the audience demands.

(Editor's Note: The Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO) announced September 7, 2005 that circuit events would initiate in-competition drug testing beginning in 2006. The events include the World's Best 10K in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Feb. 26), Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile in Washington, DC (Apr. 2), Lilac Bloomsday 12K in Spokane, WA (May 7), Peachtree Road Race 10K, in Atlanta, GA (Jul. 4) and the Boilermaker 15K in Utica, NY (Jul. 9). "We heard the concerns of elite athletes about wanting a level playing field in the sport of long distance running. This action brings that goal closer," said PRRO President Julia Emmons after the organization's Board Meeting in July. "We encourage other events to join us in being pro-active in this area." Read the press release at http://www.runningnetwork.com/news/prroSept05drugtesting.html.)