Sha'Carri Richardson Isn't the Only Elite Getting High: The Performance Advantages of Cannabis with Josiah Hesse
Run to the Top Podcast | The Ultimate Guide to Running
RunnersConnect: Coaching Community, Running Experts, Inspiring Runners, No Fluff Blog
4.5 • 936 Ratings
🗓️ 8 September 2021
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sha'Carri Richardson thought she was going to the Olympic this summer after winning the 100m sprint. But when she tested positive for THC after the race, she was disqualified.
Like Richardson, several elite athletes have made headlines recently, while the use of marajuana has pretty much been an open secret among the best of the best.
But why? What is the science behind this controversial plant? What researchers are starting to learn is that the natural runner's high that we feel when we go for a run is directly related to the one you get from THC and NOT from endorphins like so many believe.
Now there's a whole lot more to this topic than getting stoned and going for a run, I promise you, and today I'm going to talk to the investigative journalist who literally wrote the book on it.
Josiah Hesse's work has been featured in publications including Vice, The Guardian, Politico, and Esquire. In his new book, RUNNER'S HIGH, Josiah takes us on a journey through the secret world of athletes who experience astounding, cannabis-inspired physical and mental transformations. He explores the groundbreaking science of the runner's high, the economics of the $20 billion CBD market, and the fundamental racism and inequalities in the enforcement of marijuana prohibition.
Regardless of what you feel personally or politically about marijuana, and how it relates to running, this is a stereotype-busting deep dive into a fascinating topic and I hope you'll join me for the trip.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Josiah Hesse, and you're listening to the Run to the Top Podcast. Hi there, my running friend, this is Coach Claire Bartholic, the Planted Runner, |
| 0:22.0 | and this is the Run to the Top Podcast, one of the first and only |
| 0:25.6 | running podcast dedicated to making you a better runner with each and every episode. We are created and produced by the expert team of running coaches at runnersconnect.net where you can find the best running information on the internet as well as running coaching plans to fit every runner and every budget. |
| 0:44.0 | When Chicari Richardson was interviewed right after she dominated the U.S. Olympic finals in the |
| 0:54.2 | hundred meters this past June. She said, I'm an Olympian no matter what is said. |
| 1:00.3 | Turns out, she's not an Olympian. When her post-race drug test came back positive for THC, |
| 1:07.0 | the active ingredient in marijuana, she was stripped of her title and watched the Olympics in Tokyo from home. |
| 1:14.4 | Richardson claimed that she used cannabis in the days prior to the trials to help her |
| 1:19.8 | cope with the recent death of her mother. While not illegal where she was in the state of |
| 1:24.7 | Oregon, marijuana is against the rules in track and field by both the US Anti-Doping |
| 1:31.6 | Association, USADA, and the World Anti-Doping Association, U-S.S.A. |
| 1:33.4 | And the World Anti-Doping Association, or WADA. |
| 1:37.2 | Understandably, her disqualification led to a debate over whether or not the rule |
| 1:41.8 | against cannabis in sport is justified at all. |
| 1:44.8 | After all, the stereotypical pothead with the munchies living in his mom's basement does not exactly |
| 1:50.5 | jive with world-class athletics. Many people asked if Pot is clearly not |
| 1:56.2 | performance-enhancing, why should it be banned at all? So if weed is not |
| 2:01.0 | performance-enhancing, why on earth are elite athletes at the top of their game taking it? |
| 2:05.8 | Does it help recovery, mental health, or something else? |
| 2:09.8 | Is Shikari Richardson an isolated case or is there far more to this story? |
| 2:15.8 | What is definitely clear is that this topic isn't going away. |
| 2:20.5 | In 2021 the recreational use of cannabis is legal in 18 states, the District of |
... |
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