Dwain Chambers, Race Against Me: My Story

Dwain Chambers "Race against me" is a must read book. Already the press have disseminated the meaning of his words and the usual crew of knockers have assembled. In this case the knockers seem to be thicker on the ground and even after 6 years since his drugs conviction we still have him addressed as 'Drugs Cheat Chambers'. I suggest that we are all kinda missing the point. Chambers gives a graphic explanation of his drugs regime which makes harrowing reading for anyone thinking that 'artificial' ingestions will make a better athlete. In fact Chambers is now proving that, contrary to his initial thoughts you run better, quicker and more efficiently clean.

Surely 'The establishment' would be better served by getting behind this man and supporting his efforts. He could be a shinning example to the up coming youth IF he was used correctly. He is being tested regularly and is coming clean every time. Leopards can change their spots. He held up his hands. Isn't it time we held up ours and gave him the chance, meantime read the book for your self and make your own decisions. I for one think he needs and deserves a second chance and the book is a surprisingly good read.

I made a good start on this book during a flight delay at Newcastle Airport. Having made a contribution to the book it was a strange experience for me coming across particular sections that I remembered well. I recalled Dwain ' s spoken words and how at first he expressed concern at just how he would struggle to get his message across within the pages of a book.

He needn ' t have worried , as I read on I became pleasantly surprised and pleased with the way the book panned out. At last Dwain Chambers has had a chance to speak out without interruption, at last his voice has been heard and I sincerely hope that the people, his people, the average man and woman on the street, athletics and sports fans form their own opinion of the story. I hope they do so without interference from the small, hyena like minority of our society who unfortunately hold sway over the nation and our lives because of the privileged positions they hold in TV, journalism, the media and even parliament and the House of Lords.

' Race Against Me 'documents the rise and fall of an athlete who succumbed to the overbearing temptation of performance enhancing drugs over four years ago whilst all alone in America. The book tells how he accepted his punishment and how the resultant financial penalties brought him to the brink of ruin and bankruptcy and ultimately thoughts of suicide. Chamber ' s didn ' t run when the drug testers came calling, he didn ' t bolt out of the back door nor did he fill his mobile phone voice box to capacity making him unreachable. Chambers held up his hands and said ' here I am, punish me ' . The book depicts that epic moment well and we the reader, may even form the view that he wanted to be caught. The mental anguish and torment he went through during the time he was on performance enhancing steroids clearly affected his performance. He even lays bare in the book the very diaries detailing the exact date, timings and quantity and type of drugs he was taking. He takes us through how his body changed, his mental state and the medical down sides and dangers any athlete faces playing this dangerous game.

The book is refreshingly honest, more honest I think than any account I have ever read. Chambers tells it how it is. And yet still they scurry after him with their claws poised and ready, their noses twitching, whiskers trembling, waiting for just one more mistake, one error of judgment, one word spoken out of turn so they can punish him again. Even in our great country where we can still voice an opinion (or can we?) the dogs are waiting to tear him to bits. Before this book was even released, an individual mentioned in the book had threatened to bring his lawyers onto Chambers ' like a ton of bricks ' . Book distributers, book stores and athletics authorities alike all chipped in stating that ' Race Against Me 'was about to be legally challenged. All this without a single page having been read.

The book is a powerful account and makes gripping reading. Chambers voices his opinion on performance enhancing drugs and steroids and does his best to get the word on the street that they simply screw lives and have no place in athletics. He tells of the double standards in the sport, of preferential treatment and how people he once called friends now look upon him like something they have scraped off their shoe.