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

Hey - I must be missing something here.

With Via, Rossi cheating is 100% a fact. Here, I'd say it's about 70% certain he cheated, 30% he didn't. Is it not entirely feasable that a shoe malfunction could take 40 seconds? If your shoe is fully torn from your foot, and you have to wait for the stampede of runners to clear enough for you to grab it, it could well add up to about 40s once you've laced it back on. As for him starting near the back, there could be a couple of explanations - he could, as was earlier suggested, have wanted to avoid hecklings of "CHEATER", particularly if this race was in his old hometown, which will likely hold sentimental value to him, and where his reputation likely hasn't taken the same hammering that it has in Philly. A more obvious explanation is that he struggles with pacing and purposely lined up near the back to stop himself ripping off a sub 6 first mile with the fast guys. I've often used this tactic and it gets me an almost even paced race - it could well have been an attempt by Rossi to optimise his time! Or, as hard as it is to believe, couldn't he have just needed a dump right as the call to the start line was made, forcing him to line up at the back? (Admittedly, I haven't seen the tweet, so I don't know exactly how far back he lined up).

It seems these scraps of not much are all you have to accuse him of Rossiing the Turkey Trot. If I'm missing something very, very obvious, I'm sorry for wasting everybody's time. Please explain it to me like I'm five. I really would like to know how this provides proof he cheated.

If not, then it seems like you've all got caught in a McCarthyesque witch hunt where you can't see reasonable explanations for an anomalous result because you all want Mike to have messed up. You want it so, so badly. You want it so much that some of you spend most of your days posting here, bullying his children and insulting his wife.

I don't think Rossi ran the full 5k. I know he didn't run Via. I know he's an egomaniac. But I don't think that his 20:25 today is a guaranteed lie.

And that means that the Brojos should be very, very worried.

This thread has surely financed 10k by now

Isaac Allen wrote:

Hey - I must be missing something here.

You're right! It sounds like you're a couple of cans short of a six pack. The Brojos have nothing to worry about.

CSU-1959 wrote:

Isaac Allen wrote:

Hey - I must be missing something here.

You're right! It sounds like you're a couple of cans short of a six pack. The Brojos have nothing to worry about.

Agree, FFS this is Rossi we're talking about.

Also, love how anyone who doubts him is considered a troll, there's a lot of friggin trolls out there.

Does it get any lower than driving an hour just to cheat at a 5K turkey trot? Honestly at this point if I were the Brojos I'd just suspend the offer. I think if you offered most 3:11 guys 10K to break 18 minutes nevermind 20 and gave them 6+ months to do it moat would successfully do it.

Isaac Allen wrote:

Hey - I must be missing something here.

.

Given the subject is Mike Rossi I dont think he deserves the benefit of any doubt.

His past speaks for itself. His shoe/ankle all popped up after his tweet. "waiting for results". What runner doesnt know his results within a second or 2 after his 5K. Especially one with 10K on the line.

Reg Fields wrote:

Does it get any lower than driving an hour just to cheat at a 5K turkey trot? Honestly at this point if I were the Brojos I'd just suspend the offer. I think if you offered most 3:11 guys 10K to break 18 minutes nevermind 20 and gave them 6+ months to do it moat would successfully do it.

Your theory would only work if the 3:11 was a really soft PR. Our boy only wins if he cheats and doesn't get caught.

PutridStenchOfRossi wrote:

Also, love how anyone who doubts him is considered a troll, there's a lot of friggin trolls out there.

http://imgur.com/ey6jJ0F

Here's one Mike:

Isaac Allen wrote:

Hey - I must be missing something here.

With Via, Rossi cheating is 100% a fact. Here, I'd say it's about 70% certain he cheated, 30% he didn't . . . . . .

. Please explain it to me like I'm five. I really would like to know how this provides proof he cheat.

"Credibility" is what you are missing, you talk in probabilities that you have conjured from thin air when all anyone is saying is that the evidence (or lack of) plus what we know about an individual strongly suggests cheating. When someone has this kind of track record the default position is to not believe something until evidence like an untampered GPS track is shown.

According to the race web site, age group awards went to the top three. I wonder if the guy who crossed the line in fourth (and the race director) is aware who crossed in third.

https://runsignup.com/Race/NJ/Westmont/HaddonTownshipTurkeyTrot5k

In a strange coincidence, I think that is Cecily Tynan's husband third from the right in the photo at the top of the race's website. (I think the photo is actually from a different, more competitive race.)

Finally, enjoy this Rossi produced video from 2013 which shows how all this started:

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-968354

Training runs don't count as PRs. But that one made me optimistic for this 5k race, remember?

No shortcuts wrote:

It's not his PR. He ran 20:15 earlier in the week, remember? Getting closer!!!

Even you can't keep up with his lies.

SmartRunnr wrote:

Come on guys, what's wrong with you? Can't you be happy for him to improve his PR like that? So much negativity here...

Isaac Allen wrote:

Hey - I must be missing something here.

With Via, Rossi cheating is 100% a fact.

Indeed you are. There was an independent committee, guided by the highly reputable USATF, who found no evidence of any wrongdoing there. So your "fact" is 100% wrong.

Now, his 20:25 then obviously clears his name, for he practically won the challenge. After all, weaving through the crowds and then racing the whole race alone likely cost him about 26 seconds!

SmartRunnr wrote:

Training runs don't count as PRs. But that one made me optimistic for this 5k race, remember?

Presumably he got the delayed start, hiding and sneaking back on course timing much more accurate under the low pressure of a training cheat.

Ackley wrote:

Finally, enjoy this Rossi produced video from 2013 which shows how all this started:

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-968354

Man, why has everything this guy does have to be so pompous.

Being over-the-top might be a great attribute for a guy who has to be entertaining at weddings, a day when everything has to be 'fabulous', but he seems to be quite bombastic in all areas.

Wow. That's the first time I saw this video. You can tell he is the guy who falls in love with everything he does. At the same time he can't understand why everyone else doesn't love it as well making him rich and famous in the process. I agree with a previous poster, you have a job, family and things that make you happy. Be a man and live your life not some made up make pretend existence.

Uzhorod wrote:

Ackley wrote:

Finally, enjoy this Rossi produced video from 2013 which shows how all this started:

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-968354

Man, why has everything this guy does have to be so pompous.

Being over-the-top might be a great attribute for a guy who has to be entertaining at weddings, a day when everything has to be 'fabulous', but he seems to be quite bombastic in all areas.

I think most of what you said is true. But I don't think most posters are claiming with 100% certainty here.

To me, the 'Results soon' tweet, that was subsequently deleted, is the most incriminating piece of evidence. The shoe malfunction and sprained ankle then appears. As as someone else noted, his history of lack of credibility makes it all the more suspicious.

Also, only one person has ever bullied his children and insulted his wife. And the other posters condemn him for it. In fact, I'm annoyed that he hasn't been banned, despite repeated warnings. Makes me think the Brojos must think Ken drives continued interest in this thread.

randmart wrote:I posted the following to the DQ Events FB Page [being all Local Knowledge, and stuff]

"Glad to see you had a Washington Post acclaimed course-cutter in Westmont today, trying to swindle LetsRun out of $10K by going sub-20

He almost made it too - must've cut through the wrong backyard"

Mike Rossi sent me a Friend request on FB

I feel kind of icky about that

He likes to send fake account requests on FB and Twitter. Always best to assume he has his own agenda and if you disagree with him he'll 'rossi' you from his friends/followers. Put him in a restricted list if you accept, I wouldn't want him to know any personal info he'll use against you at the first sign of a disagreement.And wash your hands and often. He'll never come clean.

randmart wrote:

Mike Rossi sent me a Friend request on FB

I feel kind of icky about that

Yeah, I deleted it

I don't need his nonsense ... I have my own nonsense to worry about