One University of Alabama professor will practice what he teaches when he runs the world’s second-largest marathon. Benjamin Boudreaux is an assistant professor of exercise science at the Tuscaloosa campus. He’s set to race in the New York City Marathon this coming Sunday. This is Boudreaux’s fourth-ever marathon and his second time racing in the Big Apple. Boudreaux has autism and is a type-one diabetic. He says his running has been more beneficial to him than all the medicine he was taking.
“I think that's the one challenge that I actually challenge exercise physiologists and personal trainers, as I say, well, wait a minute. What about what would happen if you have not only a person with autism, but wait, what if they have high blood pressure or diabetes? Like now, you got to work with both two things,” he said.
Boudreaux says his goal for this marathon is to break his personal record time of three hours and twenty-six minutes. He quoted as telling his students that a semester is like a marathon. It takes enthusiasm, discomfort, doubt, adjustment and the willingness to try again. His own experience drives his work on exercise plans tailored to people with disabilities. Boudreaux has been running ever since he was a junior in college. He says his favorite part of the marathon experience is the preparation beforehand.
“It's always about discipline, hard work, and enjoying your supporters that help you get to where you can get to the starting line or anywhere else,” he said.
This year’s New York Marathon has been marked by charges of doping against two of it famous participants. One of the world’s leading marathon runners, Ruti Aga, has been banned for six years after track and field’s anti-doping investigators found she submitted a fake prescription to explain a failed drug test.
The Ethiopian runner won the Tokyo Marathon in 2019 and has reached the podium at the Berlin and New York Marathons. She tested positive for the banned substance methylprednisolone after winning a half marathon in China in March, the Athletics Integrity Unit said on Thursday.
Aga said she’d been given the substance by a doctor in Ethiopia to treat knee pain but the AIU said it found the clinic named on the document didn’t exist and the supposed prescription had actually been signed by a family member who wasn’t a registered doctor.
After that, Aga failed to respond to charges for the use of
methylprednisolone and “tampering” with the anti-doping process, the AIU added, meaning the six-year ban was issued without a hearing. The 32-year-old runner’s ban includes two years for the use of the substance and four more for tampering.
Track and field investigators said that the 2021 New York Marathon winner, Albert Korir of Kenya, was banned for five years after he admitted doping. Korir tested positive for the blood-boosting substance CERA, a modern version of EPO, in three different samples taken in Kenya last October while he was training to run in New York.
The Athletics Integrity Unit said in its verdict that all his results since October will be disqualified, including his third-place finish in New York last November .
The three positive tests “constitutes clear evidence of the athlete’s use of ‘a prohibited substance on multiple occasions’ which is expressly identified in the definition of aggravating circumstances,” the verdict stated.
The 32-year-old Korir’s ban expires in January 2031. The ban was shortened by one year because he admitted his doping without requesting a hearing, the verdict said. Korir will be allowed to keep his 2021 New York title. He also finished runner-up in 2019 and 2023, and third in 2024.
