My relationship with Alberto Salazar began in the early 2000s.

At the time, I was a promising local high school runner in Portland, Oregon. He invited me to join the area’s top talent, including Galen Rupp, to participate in an informal off-season training group. We called ourselves “Al’s Pals.”

We met three days-a-week in the winter and summer for track workouts, long runs, and gym sessions. In many ways it was the precursor to the Oregon Project. Training together made us all better. Every kid ran faster and distance running for high schoolers in the state of Oregon became much more competitive during that era.

Were we doping? I wasn’t.

Was Galen? I don’t know.

What I do know is these are the questions everyone who has ever been coached by Alberto will now be asked.

The news of his four-year ban from coaching is not a happy moment, but both a sad and healthy moment.

It is sad because every result of any athlete he has coached is now suspect.

It is sad because the Nike Oregon Project is forever tainted. Alberto founded NOP to revive competitive American distance running. And it did. NOP and Alberto were key players in the competitive running boom the US has enjoyed during the first two decades of the 2000s.

It is sad because it is clear he prioritized winning at any cost over fair play. We Americans like winners. But we have high standards of our sportspersons — how you win matters too. Americans believe in fair play and Alberto didn’t play fair.

It is sad because Alberto does have a kindness to him. I’ve been privileged to it — but now you have to question whether it was authentic or he was simply putting on a show to manipulate you.

It is sad because he was a mentor of mine. He had a positive impact on how I coach. As a young coach, he taught me a lot about the level of focus, work ethic, and competitiveness needed for athletes to become their best. But in light of the illegal methods he employed, many of those messages now ring hollow.

It is sad because he violated the code of trust between an athlete and coach. Athletes trust their coach to lead them down a path towards becoming a better, more competitive athlete. Coaches invest their attention, time and energy in their athletes and athletes reciprocate this investment by doing what their coach asks of them in good faith. Misleading athletes is a clear violation of this time honored code.

But his ban is healthy too. It forces us all to admit there is an inescapable pharmaceutical abuse problem in competitive distance running at the highest level. We cannot address a problem until we admit there is a problem — there is no hiding it any longer, the sport of athletics has a serious fair play problem.

It is healthy because now we can admit we were tricked by what we saw from some of his runners. Some of the feats we witnessed by his athletes were so mind boggling because they were, in fact, humanly impossible without pharmaceutical aid.

It is healthy because we have a clear demonstration of how powerful perfomance enhancing drugs really are. To be asked to believe that an athlete can suddenly develop a fantastic range of world beating ability from the 1500m event up to the 1/2 Marathon during a single season is absurd. It defies principles and timelines of human biology and physiology. But we know drugs work and, seemingly, some work very well.

It is healthy because the careers of athletes and coaches cut short, or forever altered, by losing to his enhanced runners now have justice and closure. They can be at peace knowing they were better than their results reflected. No, it doesn’t change what happened, but it does afford them peace of mind.

Is Alberto a bad person? No, I don’t think so, not entirely.

But he is complex and multifaceted — we all are.

In some contexts I am sure he is kind, loving and caring. But in the sporting context we’ve been made aware of a darker side. What fueled his thoughts and actions is anyone’s guess. This is not his best moment and I am not here to throw mud on him.

Am I happy Salazar is banned? No.

I am disappointed and conflicted.

I really wanted to believe all that I saw.

Working as a coach and meet director, for years I had a front row ticket to the renaissance of American distance running. For a time, I was enthused and inspired by the many exciting performances produced by his runners.

Unfortunately, now I understand much of what I saw was too good to be true.

I feel fooled — because I was.

Thanks for reading. I'm glad you're here. | @jmarpdx

Thoughts On Salazar’s Coaching Ban and The Nike Oregon Project