rexthebex wrote:
Not sure if this had been shared here yet or not:
http://www.runnersworld.com/racing/athlinks-plays-vital-role-in-catching-suspect-performances?cid=soc_Running%20Times%20Magazine%20-%20RunningTimesMagazine_FBPAGE_Runner%E2%80%99s%20World__NewsRunning Times piece from today about the use of Athlinks to bust race cheaters. Our boy Mike Rossi is cited as an example of a marathon cheater.
Congrats on running Boston, Mike! Mentions in articles like this are going to be your lasting legacy long after all your Boston Marathon gear gets worn out and given to the Goodwill.
For those too lazy to click, here's the bit about Rossi:
Catching Questionable Performances
Back in 2004, Busot didn’t anticipate that the website would be used to nab cheaters.
When questions arose about the legitimacy of Mike Rossi’s Boston Marathon-qualifying finish at last year’s Via Marathon in Allentown, Pennsylvania, many runners turned to Athlinks to look up Rossi’s previous race results for comparison. (In May, Rossi took his children out of school to watch him run the Boston Marathon. His letter to the principal explaining their absence went viral.)
At the Via Marathon, Rossi ran 3:11. According to his Athlinks profile that has since been made private, his next fastest time was 3:43, which he ran 11 weeks after the Via Marathon. Though Busot can’t guarantee every race result is available on Athlinks, Busot said, “When it comes to marathons, we have a pretty comprehensive database.â€
Busot acknowledged runners are a very self-policing group, and Athlinks only enables that tendency.
“If you’re dumb enough, in this day and age with GPS and Athlinks and other tools that can be used against you, and you’re still willing to put yourself out there and not realize you’ll get smacked down, you get what’s coming to you,†Busot said.
-Mike Rossi, dumb enough? Check.
-Getting what's coming to him? Check.