RULES OF USATF REGARDING COMPETITION

NOT ESSENTIAL TO ROAD RACING
NOT ESSENTIAL TO ROAD RACING
NOT ESSENTIAL TO ROAD RACING
Any competitor or participant jostling, running across, or obstructing another competitor or participant so as to impede his or her progress shall be liable to disqualification in that event. The Referee shall have the authority to order the race to be reheld, excluding the disqualified competitor or, in the case of a heat, to permit any competitor(s) seriously affected by jostling or obstruction (other than the disqualified competitor) to compete in a subsequent round of the race. Normally, such an athlete should have completed the event with bona fide effort. Regardless of whether there has been a disqualification, the Referee, in exceptional circumstances, shall also have the authority to advance a competitor seriously affected by jostling or obstruction or to order the race to be reheld if it is just and reasonable to do so.
No performance accomplished by an athlete shall be valid unless it has been made during an official competition.
NOT ESSENTIAL TO ROAD RACING
Leaving Track, Field, or Course:
(a) No competitor, after leaving the track or course, shall be allowed to rejoin a race either for the purpose of gaining a place or to pace or to assist another competitor.
(b) In field events and in the combined events, with the permission of the Chief Judge of the event and accompanied by an official, a competitor may leave the immediate area of the competition during the progress of the competition (other than during a race). Competitors excused to compete in another event need not be accompanied.
(c) In any track event of 20,000 meters or more or in any road race, a competitor may leave the road or track with the permission and under the control of a judge or other authorized official, provided that by going off or returning to the course the athlete does not lessen the distance to be covered.
Any competitor who shall refuse to obey the directions of the Referee or other proper official, or who shall conduct himself/ herself in an unsportsmanlike manner, or who is offensive by action or language to the officials, spectators, or competitors at any competition may be disqualified by the Referee from future competition at the meet, and if the Referee thinks the offense worthy of additional action, he/she shall promptly make detailed statement of the offense to the appropriate National or Association Officer.
To be considered a finisher, a competitor must complete the race.
In any race decided on the basis of the distance covered in a fixed period of time, the Starter shall fire the pistol or give other audible or visual signal exactly one minute before the end of the race to warn competitors and judges that the race is nearing its end. At the exact specified time after the start, as directed by the Chief Timer, the Starter shall signal the end of the race by again firing the pistol or giving other audible or visual signal. The Timers will then immediately stop their watches. At the instant of the signal of the expiration of the time, the Judges appointed for that purpose shall mark the exact spot where each competitor last touched the track before or simultaneously with the final signal. Competitors may be given marking devices to place at their last contact point to aid the Judges. The distance achieved shall be measured to the nearest meter or yard behind the rear edge of the last footprint of the competitor. At least one judge shall be assigned to each competitor before the start of the race for the purpose of recording the time of each lap completed and marking the distance achieved.
RULE 66
Assistance to Athletes

Except as provided in road races (Rule 132) and in long distance walking events (Rule 150), during the progress of an event a competitor who has received any assistance whatsoever from any other person may be disqualified by the Referee. "Assistance" is the conveying of advice, information or direct help to an athlete by any means, including a technical device. It also includes pacing in running or walking events by persons not participating in the event, by competitors lapped or about to be lapped, or by any kind of technical device. It does not mean participation of an officially designated pacesetter in the race.
NOTE 1: Pacesetting by a person entered in an event for that purpose is permitted.
NOTE 2: Competitors may carry or wear articles of personal equipment such as wrist chronometers and heart rate monitors.
(a) Verbal or other communication, without the use of any technical device, from an individual who is not in the competition area to an athlete who is in the competition area shall not be considered assistance.
(b) The use by athletes of video or cassette recorders or players, TV's, CD or CD-ROM players, radio transmitters or receivers, mobile phones, computers, or any similar devices in the competition area shall not be permitted. In long distance running, this is not a mandatory rule, but is a strong suggestion as a guideline for safety reasons.
In a track event, any competitor competing to lose or to coach another competitor shall forfeit the right to be in the competition and shall be disqualified.
NOT ESSENTIAL TO ROAD RACING
NOT ESSENTIAL TO ROAD RACING
Intermediate times and preliminary winning times may be officially announced and/or displayed. Otherwise such times must not be communicated to the athletes by persons in the competition area without the prior approval of the Referee.
No attendant or competitor who is not actually taking part in the competition shall accompany any competitor on the mark or in the competition, nor shall any competitor be allowed, without the permission of the Referee or Judges, to receive assistance or refreshment from anyone during the progress of the competition, except as provided by Rule 66.8 or Rule 132.
Medical personnel authorized by the Games Committee or Referee to do so may examine any athlete who appears in distress. If in their opinion it is in the best interest of the athlete's health and welfare, they may remove the athlete from the competition. A hands-on medical examination during the progress of an event by officially designated medical personnel shall not be considered assistance.
During hot weather the meet organizers may furnish competitors with water and sponging stations in races of 5000 Meters and longer on the track and in off-track events. See Rule 132.
RULE 67
Doping

Under the Rules of the International Amateur Athletic Federation and the Operating Regulations of USATF, doping is strictly forbidden. The governing provisions are those of IAAF Rules 55-61 and USATF Regulation 10. This Rule 67 is intended only as a helpful summary of those provisions and not as an official source.
The following are guilty of a doping offense:
(a) An athlete whose body tissues or fluids are found to contain a prohibited substance,
(b) An athlete who uses or takes advantage of a prohibited technique,
(c) An athlete who admits having used or taken advantage of a prohibited substance or a prohibited technique,
(d) An athlete who fails or refuses to submit to doping control after having been properly requested to do so,
(e) A person who assists or incites an athlete to use a prohibited substance or a prohibited technique,
(f) A person who in any way improperly interferes with the collection, shipment, storing or testing of a sample, or with the administration of USATF's or the IAAF's doping control regulations, and
(g) An athlete who competes while ineligible to compete because of a doping offense.
The list of prohibited substances is included in the IAAF's Procedural Guidelines for Doping Control. That list may be amended from time to time. Metabolites of prohibited substances are also prohibited. As of January 1, 2001, the list includes the following substances:
(a) Stimulants/amphetamines: e.g., amineptine, amiphenazole, amphetamine, amphetaminil, benzphetamine, bromantan, caffeine (positive urine testing threshold: 12 mcg/ml), cathine, carphedon, chlorphentermine, clobenzorex, clorprenaline, cocaine, cropropamide, crotethamide, dimethylamphetamine, ephedrine, etafedrine, ethamivan, ethylamphetamine, etilefrine, fencamfamin, fenethylline, fenproporex, furfenorex, hetaminol, mefenorex, mesocarb, methoxyphenamine, methylamphetamine, methylephedrine, methylphenidate, morazone, nikethamide, pemoline, pentetrazol, phendimetrazine, phenmetrazine, phentermine, phenylpropanolamine, pipradol, prolintane, propylhexedrine, pyrovalerone, selegeline, strychnine, and chemically and pharmacologically related compounds.
(b) Narcotic Analgesics: e.g., alphaprodine, anileridine, buprenorphine, dextromoramide, diamorphine, dipipanone, ethoeptazine, ethylmorphine, levorphanol, methadone, morphine, nalbuphine, pentazocine, pethidine, phenazocine, trimeperidine, and chemically or pharmacologically related compounds.
(c) Steroids and anabolic agents: e.g., androstenedione, bambuterol, bolasterone, boldenone, chlordehydromethyltestosterone, clenbuterol, clostebol, dehydroepiandrosterone, dihydro-testosterone**, formoterol, fluoxymesterone, gestrinone, mesterolone, methandienone, methenolone, methyltestosterone, nandrolone, 19-norandrostendiol, 19-norandrostendione, nor-ethandrolone, oxandrolone, oxymesterone, oxymetholone, reproterol, stanozolol, testosterone**, and chemically or pharmacologically related compounds.***
(d) Peptide Hormones, Mimietics, and analogs: e.g., Chorionic Gonadotrophin (HCG)**, Clucocorticosteroids*, Corticotrophin (ACTH), Growth Hormone (hGH, somatotrophin), Erythropoietin (EPO), Pituitary and Synthetic Gonadotrophins (LH), Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF-1), Insulin****, and all respective releasing factors of these substances.
(e) Masking agents: e.g., probenecid and chemically or pharmacologically related compounds. Also many diuretics.
* USATF and the IAAF may, on notification and medical recommendation prior to use, approve inhalation therapy and local or intra-articular injections of corticosteroids. and inhalation of certain beta-2 agonists.
** circumstances under which samples will be deemed to be positive for dihydrotestosterone, testosterone and HCG are described in Schedule 1 of the IAAF's Procedural Guidelines, which appears in the USATF Governance Manual.
***The administration of certain beta agonists is permitted with the prior written authorization of USATF and/or the IAAF.
****Permitted only to treat insulin-dependent diabetes, with written notification by an endocrinologist. (For exemption procedure, see Chapter 5 of the IAAF’s Procedural Guidelines.)
This list is not exhaustive. Other substances may be banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Some other substances not listed here may be considered to be banned because they are related to specifically banned substances. Athletes are urged to call the (USOC) U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) Drug Reference Line at 1-800-233-0393 before taking any medication and/or food supplement.
Prohibited techniques include the exogenous use of epitestosterone to alter the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, blood doping, and the use of substances (e.g., diuretics, probenecid, and related compounds) and methods (e.g., catheterization, urine substitution and/or tampering) that alter the integrity and validity of urine samples collected during doping control.
In USATF disciplinary proceedings for doping offenses, USATF Regulations do not allow the defense that a prohibited substance or technique did not or could not have enhanced training or performance, or that the athlete did not intend to engage in doping.
Individuals who have committed doping offenses may be declared ineligible and may lose medals won and records set subsequent to the offense. If the offense is based on in-competition testing, prizes or appearance money earned at that competition and subsequent competitions are subject to forfeiture.
USATF Regulation 10 authorizes USATF to participate in both the IAAF and USOC in-competition and out-of-competition doping control programs. The relevant protocols are set forth in the 2001 USATF Governance Handbook.