When the marathon craze gate-crashed the traditional delivery of athletics in the 1980s such was its impact that the sport's governing structures couldn't cope.

As a result in many countries including many of the big markets like the US, Great Britain and a fair swag of Europe, mass participation running developed independently of national athletics federations.

The beneficiaries were diverse from not-for profits like the New York Road Runners Club which delivers its city's famous marathon among a plethora of events year-round - to full blown commercial entities that raked in the cash.

By the time the consequences of the sport's indifference were realised, this horse had well and truly bolted.

Those in control of the new jewels in the sport's crown had no reason nor desire to have anything to do with those who thought they were in charge.

Whilst some national bodies including Australia, had kept their toes in the water, many had become completely estranged from a money-making machine that could have had their coffers overflowing.

When the International Association of Athletics Federations began staging world championships from 1983, the concept was universally embraced by athletes in every event except one, the marathon - for they already had a home elsewhere.

Even the introduction of substantial championship prize-money in the 1990s made no difference to the long distance men and women for they were doing even better in city-based marathons - and not just in those races with the bigger names.

Likewise the lure of the most-prized gold medal of all, whilst still persuasive in every other discipline did not always make a difference when the best runners made the decision as to which marathons they might target in an Olympic year.

Then along came Liliya Shobukhova.

The Russian was a must-have on major marathon start lists.

Her reputation was enhanced even further when she was victorious three times in Chicago and picked up a full podium of placings in London.

As a result she garnered the massive bonus offered by the World Marathon Majors for multiple victories.

But she was found to be a doper and a cheat.

Her case and the extraordinary complications surrounding it destroyed the reputations of a group of International Association of Athletics Federations officials including its immediate past president.

It also meant that the most successful group of independent races the athletics world had known had been defrauded.

Their response was leadership at its best.

Now a group of six, with Tokyo having joined Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London and New York, they invested significantly in a partnership with the world governing body to create a testing pool for those athletes most likely to be the top contenders in their races.

Whilst the existing model still had flaws, it was working well in weeding out many of the cheats in championships, the major games and in a broad range of higher level track and field competitions.

But in road running with so much prize-money in so many races, the system never had a chance to work.

Exacerbating the problem was that more than 70 percent of the top runners were from three countries - two of which had no substantive anti-doping programs at all whilst the third seems to have had an elaborate one with a completely contrary purpose.

The registered testing pool (RTP) made possible by the Marathon Majors is now likely to be extended to cover the next level down - the IAAF label races.

Figures outlined at last week's Global Running Conference by the Australian head of the Athletics Integrity Unit - former AFL official Brett Clothier, leave no alternative.

In fifty gold label races in 2018, 76% of winners had not been tested out-of-competition beforehand.

It was almost the same (74%) for podium finishers.

These are the top races across the globe yet a study of 22% of them revealed that none of those on their elite start lists had been tested at all.

An extended partnership between the sport and the races will at first mean a registered testing pool of at least 300 athletes from which race directors will be able to select their preferred start lists with much greater confidence.

It's an essential.