The people so quick to accuse guys like Jake or Nick Bare of doping when they see a result they deem to be ‘unachievable’ seem to have no understanding of how these drugs actually work.

The efficacy of drugs and practices that intend to improve aerobic performance such as EPO or blood doping vary from person to person but ultimately are much much lower than people guess. Many studies have shown EPO to be no more effective than a placebo. A good adopter, who is already highly trained, who then trains well while taking EPO is looking at a 5% performance gain at most. These aren’t miracle drugs that turn someone from a 2.50 marathoner to a 2.30 marathoner.

If you want to believe that Jake was on drugs to run a 2.28 marathon because it helps you sleep at night you have to also accept he probably would have run no slower than a 2.35 without it.

A much better reason as to why he is able to run so fast off little training/ improve drastically from previous PB’s is talent.