Did Mike Rossi (viral marathon dad) cheat his way into Boston?

Just because he did it does not make it okay.

Randy Oldman wrote:

or maybe this? wrote:

Perhaps it's because it's not worth worrying about. Most people are smart enough to sniff out a few overzealous cyber bullies trying (but failing) to push their agenda..

Bully

- use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants

Example

- using the national media to humiliate a school principle (sic) into bending a rule, rather than handling the situation privately

Line Runner wrote:

Just because he did it does not make it okay.

Randy Oldman wrote:

Bully

- use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants

Example

- using the national media to humiliate a school principle (sic) into bending a rule, rather than handling the situation privately

There is a fairly large difference between what Rossi did and what we are doing. Rossi took a private situation, a form letter to himself which was completely reasonable, and made it into a public situation resulting in death threats and a media frenzy over the poor principal.

We are addressing something which was already very public and had been covered in various media outlets. We are expressing our displeasure on a poor decision that was made and posted publicly. We are expressing that displeasure publicly.

BTW, I am not being anonymous, my name is Tony Rigdon, I'm the one that lives in MO and when I post here, it is with the username, triathleteguru.

What makes you qualified to be a triguru? What are your credentials?

triathleteguru wrote:

Line Runner wrote:

Just because he did it does not make it okay.

There is a fairly large difference between what Rossi did and what we are doing. Rossi took a private situation, a form letter to himself which was completely reasonable, and made it into a public situation resulting in death threats and a media frenzy over the poor principal.

We are addressing something which was already very public and had been covered in various media outlets. We are expressing our displeasure on a poor decision that was made and posted publicly. We are expressing that displeasure publicly.

BTW, I am not being anonymous, my name is Tony Rigdon, I'm the one that lives in MO and when I post here, it is with the username, triathleteguru.

Tony,

Congrats on your 6:13 mile you posted on Facebook..

Let me follow that up and add that many teachers, school administrators, and parents were EXTREMELY upset with what Mike Rossi did. His claims that everyone was on his side is completely false. Sure a bunch of idiots who don't understand the value of a good eduction and don;t appreciate the hard work that teachers do were calling him "father of the year". But the principal, and the teachers of that school, are 100% defenseless. They are employees of the state and are not allowed to respond to issues like this on social media.

(Look up the principal from Florida who commented about the pool party - he just got fired.)

On the Abington School District FB page there is an article (now deleted, but link and pic still there) where all the teachers from the school are sitting there before the school board meeting in support of the Principal Marbury. And this article has 185 likes.

Mike can keep telling himself he is right, but he's not. And he can keep telling himself he is going to get away with it - but he won't.

I see too many news stories of kids being cyber-bullied and then committing suicide. And Mike Rossi is a parent that condones that kind of behavior. We can't do anything about those kids, but Mike is 100% fair game.

Unfortunately the damage to that principal is done, as well as her family. Her son even had to beg the media to write and article asking for the harassment to stop. But what's not done is to take away the two things that Mike seems to hold in such high esteem - even higher than his wife and children - his BQ time and medal and his Boston time and medal.

To you it may seem inconsequential, but to those who have a shred of decency it represents standing up to a bully and teaching other bullies that their actions are got going to be tolerated.

(for those looking for an abbreviated version of what I just posted, you can click on this Youtube video.

)

HeCheated wrote:

triathleteguru wrote:

There is a fairly large difference between what Rossi did and what we are doing. Rossi took a private situation, a form letter to himself which was completely reasonable, and made it into a public situation resulting in death threats and a media frenzy over the poor principal.

We are addressing something which was already very public and had been covered in various media outlets. We are expressing our displeasure on a poor decision that was made and posted publicly. We are expressing that displeasure publicly.

BTW, I am not being anonymous, my name is Tony Rigdon, I'm the one that lives in MO and when I post here, it is with the username, triathleteguru.

Tony,

Congrats on your 6:13 mile you posted on Facebook..

Thanks! That's a year and a half after a bulging L5 and herniated L4 with mostly no running for the year and a half. Just started running again about 2 weeks ago and wanted to see where I was at. I also learned in that time I have osteoarthritis in my hip from getting hit by a van during a triathlon and was told by one specialist o shouldn't run anymore.

BTW, I actually posted my MRIs online documenting my injury, Rossi, if you need help I can show you how it's done!

triathleteguru_the_real_1 wrote:

What makes you qualified to be a triguru? What are your credentials?

I was the fastest... When it came to buying triathleteguru.com!

I do wonder if they will turn off posts at some point since they did do it once, especially as things heat up again before the race.

HeCheated wrote:

I thought the same thing, unless they think that anything they post will get nailed with responses about Mike Rossi. As it is they are containing it to one post (and some posts directly to their wall).

They did delete some posts today. I believe they deleted the posts that were cut and paste of the Lets Run story which was stolen via hacking. So I don't blame them if they deleted those.

I do hope they understand (and I sent them a note about this) that even if this quiets down it is going to flare back up as the race approaches and their page is getting even more visits.

Triathleteguru wrote:

HeCheated wrote:

Tony,

Congrats on your 6:13 mile you posted on Facebook..

Thanks! That's a year and a half after a bulging L5 and herniated L4 with mostly no running for the year and a half. Just started running again about 2 weeks ago and wanted to see where I was at. I also learned in that time I have osteoarthritis in my hip from getting hit by a van during a triathlon and was told by one specialist o shouldn't run anymore.

BTW, I actually posted my MRIs online documenting my injury, Rossi, if you need help I can show you how it's done!

Keep fighting the good fight Tony, I give you tons of respect for not hiding behind some fake names on the message board. And you should be proud of that "comeback mile."

It's an anonymous message board and no accountability seems to bring out the worst in some people unfortunately.

100% awesomeness dude. Let 'er rip.

I think it is the hard working athletes that seem to be the most disgruntled my mike rossi's cheating. It has nothing to do with who is fast and who is not so fast. It is about hard work and effort and doing the best that you can do with your own physical abilities.

I have far more respect for someone who is willing to put in the real work and achieve a goal. 15 miles a week rossi is not working your ass off.

Oh, bye the way, go to my athlinks page and call me a hobby jogger, then show me your results.

Mike hid his page. Seemed to have had a glaring error.

Whatever you say, Mike.

Now, how about you put that Facebook page of yours to some use. Go on the Lehigh Facebook page and defend your honor there. That would be good for a laugh.

HelloMike wrote:

or maybe this? wrote:

Perhaps it's because it's not worth worrying about. Most people are smart enough to sniff out a few overzealous cyber bullies trying (but failing) to push their agenda. Maybe leaving it at the top of their page is their way of saying "we see what you posted and we still don't care".

Ummm. Ok Mike.

Ummm. Ok Greg

Tim Vandervlugt wrote:

Oh, bye the way, go to my athlinks page and call me a hobby jogger, then show me your results.

I'm not going to call you a hobby jogger just like I'm not going to post my times but I promise you if I had those times I would not be bragging. I think I get it now. 3:11 is a time many here can't reach. I guess that's why I don't care about the cheating, I see 3:11 as a pretty good time for a masters female. If someone wants to cheat to get into Boston then cheat, I may feel sorry for them or think it's ridiculous but I DO NOT CARE. Rossi took one spot out of more than 25,000 who qualified. I guarantee the BBA makes plenty of decisions and/or mistakes that lets hundreds of runners in when a more eligible runner was passed up.

I was never really fast but I worked harder than most and had a drive to get out and train every day.

I ran the Lincoln (NE) marathon 17 times over 20 years averaging 2:40:35.

Tim Vandervlugt wrote:

I was never really fast but I worked harder than most and had a drive to get out and train every day.

I ran the Lincoln (NE) marathon 17 times over 20 years averaging 2:40:35.

That's quite impressive but I still don't care if Rossi cheated. I think he's a d-bag for the viral letter and I was intrigued when I first saw he might have cheated. The greatest post in the history of letsrun has turned into the most pathetic. At this point I really don't care...that doesn't mean I won't check the thread from time to time.

Tim Vandervlugt wrote:

I think it is the hard working athletes that seem to be the most disgruntled my mike rossi's cheating. It has nothing to do with who is fast and who is not so fast. It is about hard work and effort and doing the best that you can do with your own physical abilities.

I have far more respect for someone who is willing to put in the real work and achieve a goal. 15 miles a week rossi is not working your ass off.

Oh, bye the way, go to my athlinks page and call me a hobby jogger, then show me your results.

3:10 Marathon PR. No messing with you that's for sure.

Tim Vandervlugt wrote:

I was never really fast but I worked harder than most and had a drive to get out and train every day.

I ran the Lincoln (NE) marathon 17 times over 20 years averaging 2:40:35.

This kind of post helps the thread reach 10000 but is really not al that helpful. It is just about you. Unless you cheated some of those times your comments are not all that helpful. I don't think you cheated so I don t think your comments are that helpful. Thank you for your contribution to 10000.