I'm Matt Dixon and welcome to the Purple Patch podcast. The mission of Purple Patch is to empower and

educate every human being to reach their athletic potential. Through the lens of athletic potential,

you reach your human potential. The purpose of this podcast is to help time-starved people everywhere

integrate sport into life. And welcome to the Purple Patch podcast, as ever, your host Matt Dixon.

And this week, we're talking about the healthy athlete.

This week, the New York Times ran an article charting the terribly sad and infuriating

treatment of the brave Mary Kane, once the fastest high school runner

in the country with genuine aspirations of Olympic glory, but endured terrible treatment at the

hands of Alberto Salazar on the Nike Oregon Project. Now, the article was met, quite rightly

by I should add, with shock, frustration, despair amongst running enthusiasts, other

professional runners and athletes, and even those just general fitness enthusiasts who stumbled

across the story in a major publication. I thought long and hard about the article and the larger

issue of emotional and physical treatment of athletes at all levels. I thought about what it means to be an elite athlete

and the approach to the quest for world class

that so many take and so many have passions and dreams of.

I also thought about how I could or should respond to the various allegations put to Nike, as well as the incredibly

brave article and video of Mary. Did I have anything to add to the conversation? So much has been

said about her specific situation, as well as the problem that's endemic across so many

female athletes and I will add male athletes.

Various people have already spoken so eloquently and well, and it's been by people that had

firsthand knowledge and the right people to provide opinion, at least in my opinion. People like

Steve Magnus, Kara Goucher, Lauren Fleshman, there are many more.

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