Oh great, 32 pages on Let's Run and counting . there goes my evening and tomorrow afternoon as well probably.

"Give 'em back his gears, Mike!!!"

Meh not worth wasting time on it. Only drama and more drama.

Somebody has a tremendous amount of time on their hands. They even went through the lost and found pictures.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1o6QNphLQ7ZV_sPSCyaFV4Tm1rmOlol_AO5cxF3Lam-Q/edit#gid=0

Somebody has a tremendous amount of time on their hands. They even went through the lost and found pictures.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1o6QNphLQ7ZV_sPSCyaFV4Tm1rmOlol_AO5cxF3Lam-Q/edit#gid=0

I think this is far more common than people realize. BAA should have a 10k timing split mandate for all BQ courses. Didn't we just comment on this for the St. Louis marathon?

The thing that I don't get (either way) after reading through 25+ pages last night is that there is a photo of him with his medal wearing a GPS watch.

• If you go to a marathon planning to cheat, why are you wearing a GPS watch?
• If you did it legitimately, couldn't you produce the GPS file? (Barring watch issues, of course - but he never said he had watch issues in his statement)

The only thing that I can think of is that he planned to cheat "just in case" he didn't hit his target paces. But then again, why not leave the watch in the car once you've done the deed? Hopefully one of the internet mob can take a look at the photo to see if distance / time is showing on the watch.

He clearly planned to cheat. That is why he picked a race without intermediate timing mats and also one with a relay going on at the same time so it would not be unusual to have runners joining the race from the crowd.

This is how important GPS watches are, you use them even when you are not running race.

This is how important GPS watches are, you use them even when you are not running race.

Hopefully one of the internet mob can take a look at the photo to see if distance / time is showing on the watch.

There is no evidence that he cheated. Only lots of circumstantial evidence that point to it being highly likely he cheated. I would be willing to wager that one more piece of circumstantial evidence out there is an email to the RD asking how many timing mats there would be.

There is no evidence that he cheated. Only lots of circumstantial evidence that point to it being highly likely he cheated.

From page 34 or something...

"StolenBoston wrote:
With this thread at 18 pages, there are a lot of repeats and people claiming that one aspect or another is "damning," or not. A lot of unfortunate (repeated) confusion on possible charity-entry, someone with the same name, etc. We need to stick with the FACTS. I still think it's circumstantial -- but a lot of circumstantial. The performance AND personality have to be considered together.

To summarize:

1. No correlating performances before or after, or tuneup races
2. No pictures on course
3. Head down in picture, with little celebration
4. No visible sweat in finish line photo (especially considered in combination with #1, with someone running the hardest race of their life) [this was later refuted]
5. Owns, uses, wears GPS watch -- but not for BQ race
6. Very brief mention of BQ on Twitter, saying "Thanks" when congratulated by someone else -- DESPITE active running boasts elsewhere -- instead of a picture of a medal, finishing time, watch, or other evidence that somebody likely proud and aware of an achievement that is also an active social media user would likely post
7. (Along with 6): Only brief mention of BQ effort, no pictures or run reports or details offered, yet goes to great lengths to make tshirts and a video for running Boston
8. Called Philly Marathon result 2 months later a 'great day' on Twitter -- with more talk about it than the superior Lehigh time -- despite running a half hour slower
9. Had short paragraph defense of BQ, yet offered no proof, nor exhibited righteous indignation, that someone having a legitimate performance questioned would show.
10. Along with 9, "This is all I have to say on this issue," shut down all social media. Especially unusual given the circumstances of the original story, in which he exhibited strong characteristics of defiance and attention-seeking"

Someone also calculated the chances of the 50 runners before and after his finish (100 total) being photographed between 3-7 times (all of them), and MR being photographed zero times (apart from the finish) as being about 1 in 11,000. That's some pretty strong circumstantial evidence.

The thing that I don't get (either way) after reading through 25+ pages last night is that there is a photo of him with his medal wearing a GPS watch.

• If you go to a marathon planning to cheat, why are you wearing a GPS watch?
• If you did it legitimately, couldn't you produce the GPS file? (Barring watch issues, of course - but he never said he had watch issues in his statement)

Meh...other than numbers 1 & 2, I'd say all the other points above are supposition and conjecture, not evidence. (and #4 was proven to be wrong, FWIW). His time in the Philly Half, however, certainly raises questions the validity of his BQ time.

In short, the dbag used social media and media contacts to shame and embarass a school principal when his kids were hit with an unexcused absence for his Boston Marathon. His response letter went viral and he was hailed as a osrt of grassroots hero. Lo & behold, his BQ time of 3:11 was not even within sniffing distance of his previous race times (he basically held his 5K PR pace for 26.2 miles) and he is not in any on-course race photos until his finishing pic. There are no intermediate timing mats on this course, so no way to know if he ran the course or not.....all evidence certainly points to "No fookin' way", however.

Hello everyone. It seems like a lot of people have jumped on here that haven't read the whole thread.

Let me summarize the evidence we have that he didn't run his BQ.

1) A guy who has a 5k pb of 21:52, a half-marathon pb of 1:40:44 supposedly ran a 3:11 marathon. That simply doens't happen.

His half marathon time averages out to 7:41 per mile. His marathon time - twice the distance comes out to be 7:18.8 per mile. Thus hes' 22.2 seconds per mile too slow for just the half. So if he was running it on a track, he'd be more than 5 seconds per lap to slow. Could he run twice as far more than 20 seconds per mile faster? No, Not possible.

Or let's take his 5k time. That comes out to 7:02.3 per mile. People can't run more than 8 times as far just slowing down 16.5 seconds per mile. The world record for the 5k is 12:37.35. That comes out to 4:03.8 per mil

If the world record holder for the 5k could run a marathon slowing down only 16.5 seconds per mile, the world record would roughly be 1:53.45/.

The world record for the marathon is 2:02:57. That comes out to 4:41.36 per mile. So a pro slows down almost 40 seconds per mile when you look at their 5k to marathon differential.

Maybe that doesn't do it for casual observers - non runneres. So please take a look at theresearchwe've done.

We've looked the 20 finishers closest to him at Lehgh Valley (10 that finsihed in front of him, 10 behind him) - all of them have run WAY faster than him. The slowest person within 20 spots of hin ckills him at lower distances. The person who finsihed 10 spots behind him has run a 5k in 20:12 and half in 1:32.16. That runner's 5k time is 32 seconds per mile faster than Mr. Rossi's. That guy's half marathon time is 38.8 seconds per mile faster than Mr. Rossi's, yet Mr. Rossi beat him the marathon? NO.

Non-hard core runners may not understand how much of a difference thirty-some odd seconds per mile is. IT'S A TON. IT'S BASICALLY THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN PROFESSIONAL MAN AND PROFESSIONAL WOMAN IN RUNNING. SO UNLESS YOU THINK A WOMAN IS GOING TO WIN THE OLYMPIC MEN'S GOLD MEDAL IN RUNNING ANYTIME SOON, THEN YOU SHOUDLN'T BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE WITH MR. ROSSI'S PRS RAN THAT MARATHON

The other runner's PRs are listed here:https://goo.gl/i4y8ck

So 1) We've established his other running results AREN'T EVEN IN THE RIGHT BALL PARK . But you want people to believe he had the MOST AMAZING day in the history of running, yet

2) His results came in a race which conveniently doesn't have intermediate chip timing. Most big marathons nowadays have it. This race did not. How convenient. So cutting the course is very doable.

But let's give the guy the benefit of the doubt. He's from PA and Lehigh is in PA so maybe he chose the race for it's proximity to him. Well I'm sure there are ltos of photos of him on the course right? Wrong.

3) Instead of chips, one would normally rely on race photographs to prove he was out on the course. There are ZERO race photographs of him on the course except at the finish. How convenient.

We've done A LOT OF RESEARCH ABOUT THIS. This spreadsheet -https://goo.gl/i4y8ck- reveals that the 50 finishers before him and after him were all photographed at least 3 times on the course (two other times not counting the finish). He is nowhere to be seen.

4) The guy loves to brag about his times/performances - yet he was very quite about bragging about his supposed qualifier and didn't upload his GPS.

5) He ran over 3:40 and 4:00 in two recent marathons. THe 3:43 came just two months after his supposed 3:11. In two months, he lost more than a minute per mile yet was happy with theperformancepost-race?

So there is ZERO reason for me to believe he ran the time he claims to run.

Goodnight. I may try a formal article tomorrow but it will take time as I'll need to contact race directors, hopefully other finishers and Mr. Rossi himself.

-Rojo

PS. I may try to get a stats guy at 538 to figure the odds out but I bet it's wya over one in a million being legitimate.

Read more:http://www.letsrun.com/...485554#ixzz3ZNjCYHb6

Wow caught in a lie and a big one. I actually feel bad for the guy. If he did cheat (looks likely) then he's a d-bag but he's gonna really be dragged through the mud on this. I would not want to be in his shoes!

Basically he just about has to "retire" from running since each and every 22 minute 5 k he runs is proof that he's
nowhere near a 3:11 marathon runner. He needs to focus on crossfit.

It is stunning to me that BAA would use a marathon that does not have intermediate timing mats as an approved qualifier for Boston.

This is how important GPS watches are, you use them even when you are not running race.

A guy once posted a file on here to document how fast he road up some climb after training with power cranks. It didn't end well... (I believe it culminated with the guy admitting the file was altered, but that ninjas broke into his house and did the deed). Just like this guy, there was legal action threatened (still waiting to be served, all these years later).

This is such an awesome story of humanity!

It would be stunning to me if they did. It's Boston, not the Olympic Trials.

Mostly I suspect that the BAA is simply of the mind that the added headache of having to verify the procedures and practices of a thousand marathons out there is simply not worth the potential "cost" of an unqualified cheater getting in now and then.

Fair point....it is pretty difficult and time consuming to have "You must have timed checkpoints for your race to be considered as a BQ race." in the application process.

C'mon....seriously?

This is a perfect example of where someone's ego becomes obsessed with social media, and ultimately becomes victim of the Interweb's obsession with witch hunts...:) Ironically, I've used my Garmin files to correct race results. It's kind of hard to fake the date, speed, power, route, etc. on an actual headunit. However, I'm sure someone could figure out how to do it. Don't forget....http://www.digitalepo.com/

Somebody has a tremendous amount of time on their hands. They even went through the lost and found pictures.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1o6QNphLQ7ZV_sPSCyaFV4Tm1rmOlol_AO5cxF3Lam-Q/edit#gid=0

Fair point....it is pretty difficult and time consuming to have "You must have timed checkpoints for your race to be considered as a BQ race." in the application process.

C'mon....seriously?

Forget timing mats. All they need are a few video cameras running at various locations, and crowd sourcing here and at the letsrun forum will take care of the rest.

I did read the entire Charlie Wenzel saga on pirate4x4 and that was entertaining as hell. :D

I see the school as a separate issue. I have no problem with him pulling his kids out. I think a parents rights and decisions trump that of the school. I also have no problem with how he responded to the school.

The funny thing is, I know what you're talking about [and I did too!!!]

One of the most epic internet burn threads of all time.

One of the most epic internet burn threads of all time.

I don't feel at all bad for him. I feel bad for his family and the embarrassment he caused them! He is the epitome of the term douche canoe!!

Late on Tuesday afternoon, Gerry Yasso, vice president of resource development for Via Lehigh Valley, confirmed to Philadelphia magazine that he has asked the USATF to launch a "thorough and impartial" investigation into the allegations against Rossi.

1) You need to look up the definition of "srawman."

2) Seems the RD of this particular race agrees that intermediate mats are important. They are adding them for this years race.

Carry on....

Which felony is worse?

Cheating / faking a BQ time ...

... or working at a Country radio station?

Anything 'country' is worse.

It would be stunning to me if they did. It's Boston, not the Olympic Trials.

Mostly I suspect that the BAA is simply of the mind that the added headache of having to verify the procedures and practices of a thousand marathons out there is simply not worth the potential "cost" of an unqualified cheater getting in now and then.

The funny thing is, I know what you're talking about [and I did too!!!]

From page 34 or something...

4. No visible sweat in finish line photo (especially considered in combination with #1, with someone running the hardest race of their life) [this was later refuted]

What if you had a choice between a country station and one that had Nickelback on its playlist rotation?

His station is probably "pop" country which is even worse.

Considering the character of the guy, it is vastly possible that he had planned to change clothes by the finish line (maybe handed out by his kids) so he looks good in photos and can document it extensively. Wouldn't rule that out.

It seems odd to me that he is breaking his PR by 30 minutes and running a BQ and yet he can't manage to raise his head at the finish? I think most of us would be pretty stoked coming across the finish with such a breakthrough run?

Considering the character of the guy, it is vastly possible that he had planned to change clothes by the finish line (maybe handed out by his kids) so he looks good in photos and can document it extensively. Wouldn't rule that out.

1:20 at Broad Street [10M] on Sunday

http://broadstreetrun.com/...sAndAwards/Index.cfm

Not bad, considering the hip thing; but well off 3:11 pace

well that's 8 minute miles. that's about what he should be running in "real life".

What if you had a choice between a country station and one that had Nickelback on its playlist rotation?

From Yahoo Sports article . . .

�I focused my training to peak for the LV race in order to hopefully qualify for Boston,� he said.

�My race history�is not indicative of my performance level but my training does show an ability to run a sub 3:15 marathon. Many of my races were run for fun or were performed while I had documented injuries.�

Yahoo Canada asked if Rossi had any GPS logs of his training, or of his race at Lehigh Valley. He said yes, but declined to provide them for verification.

Link to article: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/...tions-205004421.html

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=6479539&page=0

Wow, is this one taking off.

Dave, for someone so sensitive to being bullied I'm surprised and a little disappointed that you started a twitchunt here. You should maintain your high standards and not engage in this sort of behaviour. You will end up losing credibility around here and possibly be seen as a troll. But, maybe...

Are you a descendant of Matthew Hopkins?

Are you a descendant of Matthew Hopkins?

there is no need to harp on dubious "proofs". I think it is actually counter-productive to out the cheater, you provide them with a narrative to debunk your theory

This is certainly true. Though it is not as straight forward as you might think. For example consider these two pieces of evidence:

If his goal was to BQ and he knew it was going to be tough, it does not sense to pace it at 7:20 when he only needed 7:55. If I presented this argument to a non-runner they likely would consider this weak evidence. A runner would consider this pretty good evidence.

Another example: his response to qualifying was extremely inconsistent with his narcissistic personality. Some would just shrug their shoulders and say, ehh, maybe he had a lot going on in his life. To me psychological response to achievement are habitual and instinctual and there is a significantly validity in pointing out the psychological inconsistency.

All of this is to say there is no such thing as objective evidence.

You have to frame your argument to your audience. A non-runner would not understand the difference between a 7:55 and a 7:20 mile, but they would understand the difference between a 3:25 marathon and a 3:11 marathon.



This is just supposition and conjecture. It is not "evidence". "well, I think he should have acted like XXX". No one can say or extrapolate how someone should react to a given circumstance. If his run was legit (highly unlikely), he may simply have been exhausted and spent or overcome with emotion, etc.

That is simply not true.

Considering the character of the guy, it is vastly possible that he had planned to change clothes by the finish line (maybe handed out by his kids) so he looks good in photos and can document it extensively. Wouldn't rule that out.

He could shut everyone down with a GPS log. Just a simple log. But he's not and is proving himself guilty by doing that.

At LV Marathon, he may have changed his clothing, but he hid his face under the brim of his hat when he crossed the line with an apparent BQ effort. Where is the extensive documentation you speak of form the egomaniac? There isn't any. He apparently barely mentions the run of his life in any of his social media accounts, no pictures of his medal afterwards, zero.

Also it was hot and humid during that event and there is no way you could cross the finish with a dry shirt.

this will actually hang him, as then there will be exact times that he would have passed the photographers, whose rolls of film are time stamped, and can also be correlated to other runners' time splits.

Unless he has statements from ALL the photographers that say they all happened to go on a potty break at the exact time he passed (w/ a corresponding break in photographic coverage at that photo point), then he is better off keeping GPS data to himself.

Yahoo Canada asked if Rossi had any GPS logs of his training, or of his race at Lehigh Valley. He said yes, but declined to provide them for verification.

Well that is reasonable, why are we all accusing this poor man of cheating, he has GPS proof to back it up. This is a man that enjoys his privacy and would never share this sort of information on a social network.

Depends on the cameras. I been to races where they are automatic, and others using live video.

If he was not guilty, clearly, he would have data, as folks have stated, to show and tell folks to shut up. But silence is all the data most will need to know what he really did.

this is curious to me.... I'm guessing he actually DOES have run splits because he had someone else run the course for him, bandit with no bib. If we had those splits, we could search the photos for false negatives, ie. a runner with no bib, which I don't think Let's Run has been doing.

As for the change of clothes, how do we know he did that?

Well that is reasonable, why are we all accusing this poor man of cheating, he has GPS proof to back it up. This is a man that enjoys his privacy and would never share this sort of information on a social network.

Should have been PINK

As many runs as one has to put in for training for a marathon, he should easily be able to produce training logs showing his runs with some pretty fast days. A person attempting to qualify for Boston keeps those logs to track progress

this is curious to me.... I'm guessing he actually DOES have run splits because he had someone else run the course for him, bandit with no bib. If we had those splits, we could search the photos for false negatives, ie. a runner with no bib, which I don't think Let's Run has been doing.

Orrrrrrrr ... He was too hurt to run the Lehigh marathon and asked a healthy friend, who could [probably BQ it but wasn't entered], to use his bib & run it for him

Friend then realizes he's not up to it, and decides [on his own] to cheat on the course, covering his face at the finish line so he does get outed as NOT being Rossi

Later, Rossi finds out from his friend that he did get the BQ for him, but he cheated to do so

Rossi, therefore can't out his friend for cheating in Lehigh, because he'd be also saying that he had a different cheat plan in place, and his buddy went rogue on him

Next I suppose you'll say he was abducted by an alien spacecraft, anally probed and placed 26 miles further down the coarse. He hid his face because he was embarrassed by the probing, or possible tried to hid the smile on his face.

REALLY?

I got a giggle out of the jump to alien abduction. I've often wondered, though: If aliens have the technology to fly millions of miles to visit us, can't they come up with something better than sticking things up our asses?

I got a giggle out of the jump to alien abduction. I've often wondered, though: If aliens have the technology to fly millions of miles to visit us, can't they come up with something better than sticking things up our asses?

At LV Marathon, he may have changed his clothing, but he hid his face under the brim of his hat when he crossed the line with an apparent BQ effort. Where is the extensive documentation you speak of form the egomaniac? There isn't any. He apparently barely mentions the run of his life in any of his social media accounts, no pictures of his medal afterwards, zero.

Also it was hot and humid during that event and there is no way you could cross the finish with a dry shirt.

From Yahoo Sports article . . .

�My race history�is not indicative of my performance level but my training does show an ability to run a sub 3:15 marathon. Many of my races were run for fun or were performed while I had documented injuries.�

Orrrrrrrr ... He was too hurt to run the Lehigh marathon and asked a healthy friend, who could [probably BQ it but wasn't entered], to use his bib & run it for him

Friend then realizes he's not up to it, and decides [on his own] to cheat on the course, covering his face at the finish line so he does get outed as NOT being Rossi

Later, Rossi finds out from his friend that he did get the BQ for him, but he cheated to do so

Rossi, therefore can't out his friend for cheating in Lehigh, because he'd be also saying that he had a different cheat plan in place, and his buddy went rogue on him

While I think the guy is a cheater I can relate to race history not necessarily being indicative of performance. For example, my 5k PR is a dismal 23:00 run on Oct 4 last year. Two weeks later I ran a half in 1:37. Luckily for me I have GPS data to back it all up.

What Mike should say.....

"The last thing I'll say to the people that don't believe in me, the cynics, the skeptics, I'm sorry for you.
"I'm sorry you can't dream big, and I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. "This is a great sporting event,
and you should stand around and believe, and you should believe in me. I'm a fan of me for as long as I live,
and there are no secrets. This is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it. So vive le Mike Rossi. Forever".

What Mike should say.....

"The last thing I'll say to the people that don't believe in me, the cynics, the skeptics, I'm sorry for you.
"I'm sorry you can't dream big, and I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. "This is a great sporting event,
and you should stand around and believe, and you should believe in me. I'm a fan of me for as long as I live,
and there are no secrets. This is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it. So vive le Mike Rossi. Forever".

What Mike should say.....

"The last thing I'll say to the people that don't believe in me, the cynics, the skeptics, I'm sorry for you.
"I'm sorry you can't dream big, and I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. "This is a great sporting event,
and you should stand around and believe, and you should believe in me. I'm a fan of me for as long as I live,
and there are no secrets. This is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it. So vive le Mike Rossi. Forever".

Yasso? Lehigh Valley? Yeah, I'm willing to bet he's related to Bart Yasso in some way

And he's kinda respected by Runners, y'know

The Lehigh Valley race is a popular Boston one because it is a flat, shaded course, designed by famed marathoner Bart Yasso, Gerry's brother.

I agree...when I was planning on running a 2:50 marathon, my 10-mile training pace would be 6 to 6:10 (if not sub 6) for a tempo run.

There is a Michael Rossi from Pennsylvania who ran in the Boston Marathon who works in radio but is NOT the father of the year guy. That guy is 52. And I bet he is being harassed a lot right now.

So it's definitely not New Jersey's US International Freestyle Skier, Mike Rossi. or the one that's owns a pizza place in Trenton?

"And this next track by Madonna is one where I was one of her tour dancers. Of course, that was back before the days of Facebook, so sadly I wasn't able to post anything from back stage"


I would LOVE to have this guy as a wedding DJ..."The 47-year-old wedding and radio disc jockey..."

Also it was hot and humid during that event and there is no way you could cross the finish with a dry shirt.

I heard he was fired by his coach mid season

I heard he was fired by his coach mid season

That's not a Trucker Hat

That's not a Trucker Hat

Really? Does that look like a 3:11 marathoner?

that's a telling point(s) for sure. I wonder if he was hiding his face so as not to show how "easy" his effort was

He saw a fin on the ground and walked off the course to pick it up, he was bringing it back to give to a race official.

Please God, don't let it turn out that he's a triathlete.

I also heard that there was a guy in a gorilla suit running alongside him during the marathon and he used Power Cranks for cross training in preparation for his BQ...:)

From LR:

Well hes cheating here in Allentown
And no race photos of him can be found
Out in LetsRun they're killing time
Filling out forums
Posting online

Well this father fought some silly school War
Spent his weekend on the Boston tour
Hes a mother and an attention whore
Ask him to race
Raced with them slow
And he cheated here in Allentown

But the lying ways was handed down
And it's getting very hard to stay heyeyeyeyeheyey

Well we're waiting here in Allentown
For the photos that were never found
For the GPS files he never gave
He didnt work hard
He didnt behave
So the race medal hang on the wall
But he never really finished it all
No he never showed us what was real
Thought we were dopes
A race entry to steal
And we're waiting here in Allentown

But they've taken all the facts they have found
And the cheater simply crawled away heyeyeyeyheyeyey

Every runner had a pretty good shot
To get at least as far as this old man got
But something happened on the way to that place
They threw 26.2 miles in his face

Well he cheated here in Allentown
And it's hard to keep this douchebag down
But he wont get a PR today heyeyeyeyheyeyey

And this story just wont go away heyeyeyeyheyeyey
And he cheated here in Allentown

that's great. I guess it'd be asking too much for him to dance in his own "Allentown" video.

Excellent!

This really IS something of a phenomenon ... He's got STers quoting LRCers; AND giving them props!

He got dozens of LRCers to admit that 3:11 is a good marathon! Dozens of LRCers to admit that they are only 3:20-3:30 marathoners!

Even rojo called a 3:11 marathon something like the greatest run of all time

If it was December, it would be a Christmas Miracle

It's worth noting that all the other finishers coming through around his time (male and female) are wearing singlets. Everyone else running a 3:11 is dressed like a 3:11 runner would dress on a warm day.

aw come on now! His big boned

Yeah, deep inside he knows he's merely a jogger. No sheer singlet and split shorts for him, but that's a good thing.

dgunthert wrote:

Let's say he's telling the truth and that ALL his 20 previous races were hurt and or easy runs. How does a person like that even come to the conclusion that he can run 3:11? My marathon PR (after 3 other stand alones and couple of IMs) was 3:32., but McMillan was telling me that based on other races, I was probably capable of 3:24. My first thought was, "Bullshit, I can't run sub 8 miles for a marathon." I trusted the number and bumped my mileage from the 45-50 mpw I did for that previous race up to 70 using the Pftiz 18/70 plan and I trained with that pace as my goal. I hit all the workouts but was STILL nervous about holding that pace. I was just hoping for the best. I sure as hell didn't dream of going out 30 seconds per mile faster than my BQ required time.

With Rossi, we have someone whose only previous marathon time was over 4 hours and whose previous 10-mile best pace was 7:28. In July he runs 2 5ks at 7:44 and 7:13/mile. So what about those races or his training made him wake up less than 2 months later and decide he should start the LV marathon at 7:19/mile?

In the Philadelphia Marathon race report posted on his now-private blog, Rossi wrote that after the 20-mile mark, �I finally looked at my GPS watch and saw that I was not far from another BQ! Then, around mile 22 I had to use the bathroom�and that crushed any chance of a BQ. Bummer :( �
The splits from Rossi�s Philadelphia race tell a different story. He went through 10K in 51:14 (8:14 pace), halfway in 1:47:08 (8:10 pace overall), and 30K in 2:34:32 (8:17 pace overall), indicating he was never on the 7:50 pace he would need to run a Boston qualifier.

That's an interesting article. I like this part:


I will call that a triathlete executing a race lol

---

The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

Most folks are looking up at the finish, and pushing their watch for a finish time.

I think this pretty much sums up the circumstantial evidence. (from LR, of course):

1. No other finisher (total number?) in race with 0 pictures outside of finish line.
2. 1 in 11,000 chance of 0 photos based on statistical analysis of the number of photos of the 100 finishers nearest his 3:11 finish.
3. Bridge photographer at mile ?? has a consistent stream of photos with timestamps. MR does not pass by there at any point and there are no large time gaps in the photo stream during the time he would need to pass through to run between 3:00 and 3:30 pace. Unless he can run the 200m visibility of those pics in under 6 seconds, he was simply not there.
4. 3:11 is hugely inconsistent with past performances. Lots to elaborate on here.
5. 1000 miles in 18 months is not heavy milage and not consistent with a 3:11 marathoner, particularly a new runner who does not have years of miles of muscle memory in his legs
6. Inconsistent social media treatment of his breakout LV performance in comparison to his other races and training
7. Wet front of body yet dry armpits suggests lack of sweat but rather poured water on himself
8. Started with sunglasses and headphones. Finished without.
9. Will not produce GPS evidence that he claims to have of the LV performance and/or other workouts that are consistent with being able to run 3:15
10. Having never run more than 5K at 3:11 pace, it is illogical that he would attempt a marathon at that pace, particularly as only 3:25 needed for BQ
11. Rossi claims his prior performances and training do not reflect his true 3:11 ability because in all prior performance he was always: (a) - injured and/or (b) - didn't try hard. Needless to say, both of these explanations are complete bullocks. It is completely illogical that he would not try in his 20 races, and in fact, his social media posts directly contradict this claim, as he "gives it everything he's got in everything he does". And, injured? Injuries tend to prevent you from racing at all, not consistently slow you down by 10% if you are still able to toe the line and run. Clearly, MR's word cannot be taken seriously with regards to pace or effort; his report from his 3:43 Philly Marathon make that clear when he indicates he was on pace for another BQ until he had to take a potty break, while the actual timing data show that claim to be wildly false.

... right now the LR thead is up near 100.

Hadn't seen this posted - Runners world article.
http://www.runnersworld.com/...qualified-for-boston


"In a blog, which has since been made private, Rossi alluded to running more than 1,000 training miles in 18 months, or roughly 15 miles per week. It�s typical for runners who are capable of a 3:11 marathon to train at least 40 miles per week, especially among runners over the age of 40."


That kind of improvement on 15MPW training? --- he should be coaching!

I've run all of my eight Boston qualifiers at 210lbs and above....and have the damn GPS data to prove it!

Don't judge the size of the horse, judge their gallop.

Bob

I've run all of my eight Boston qualifiers at 210lbs and above....and have the damn GPS data to prove it!

Don't judge the size of the horse, judge their gallop.

Bob

... on the other hand, what is a marathon of that magnitude doing without timing mats. I've got 10 timing mats lined up for my Gran Fondo next month, and it pales in comparison both in size and importance to that Boston Qualifier. I realize timing mats are no panacea as Kip Litton showed, but still, at least make the cheats work for it.

I thought that he was like 47 (not that that really matters)

The problem with his finish line photo is that, well, he's too calm. When I qualify the first time in 2008 I was quite literally going bananas for the last hundred meters.

If this was a dream, a wish, a life affirming goal for him I would've expected more than just a fist pump.

i am almost ashamed to admit i know this, but there are TWO Mike Rossi who both live in PA (and both work in radio) and BOTH runners. the older guy (52) is totally innocent.

How much do timing mats cost anyway? Assuming that you at least have two for the start/finish meaning you've already paid for the timing chips for everyone, how much would it cost to add an extra mat?

I think all BQ races need mats every 5k, this way if a timing mat malfunctions you still have 9 other mats to find you on the course. Of course the two critical mats are at the start and finish which is why most big races will double and sometimes even triple the number of mats on the start/finish lines. Timing mats miss people all the time, this is why you need several throughout the race.

I'm with you. This is has easily been the most entertaining part of my week. The LR folks are amazingly impressive investigators.

and both in radio, both from PA, and both qualified for and ran Boston.

it gets weirder..... in the search for photos showing the cheater leaving the course after crossing the start line timing mat, they found a suspicious individual walking backwards on the course in front of the hospital at the start. Somebody quipped "hey, get the security camera footage from the hospital".

Guess who is head of the LVPA hospital?

a third Mike Rossi

No different than most males approaching 50, trying to turn back the clock. Trying a little too hard that is.

To put some perspective, this guy has NOTHING on Dr. Jim Michaels, a water ski cheating doctor of dentistry. He rigged up a ski course in his awesome lake with remote controlled electro-mechanical adjustment. So when he skied, the course would go narrow (easy). He ran this charade for a full year, in a comedy of circumstance he was able to side step every "real" test. He set masters(senior) world records, he declared he would take on the pro world record. Registered USA/World records!!

The climax was a bonafide pro-tour event held at his place - big boat company sponsored, The US Open by Malibu. He was skiing like crap so he pulled the trigger and got caught. Unbelievable, but actually to piece things together, quite understandable. He started in bits and it just snowballed.

<http://skifly.com/...dal-dr-jim-michaels/