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

rojo wrote:

sfdsfds wrote:

but you are hanging him before you even have any legit evidence that he did cheat.

.

False. we have lot of circumstantial evidence. There's much more evidence saying he didn't run that than did.

Let's review. A guy who has a 5k pb of 21:52, a half-marathon pb of 1:40:44 supposedly ran a 3:11 marathon.

You may not be a running aficianoado so it's going to be hard to put this in perspective for you.

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. And you think he can improve that much and double the distance? Not possible.

The men's world record for the half marathon in 58;13. That's 4:27 per mile. If the half marathon WR holder ran a marathon 22.2 second per mile faster than his half pace, the men's marathon WR would be 1:47.03.

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.

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.

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. 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 the performance post-race?

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

nomadgecko wrote:

I’ve been a longtime lurker on this thread. This story particularly resonates with me because I live just outside of Boston, I BQ’d this fall at the Philadelphia Marathon, and I’m almost his age.

Advice to the forum

The phenomenal work that was done proving beyond a reasonable doubt that he cheated shows how the internet can be used for good. But stray not into the dark side; when you see others posting inappropriate comments, don’t engage and encourage them. Be the change you want to see in the world. Stop engaging the trolls - drop the discussions about the prestige of his job, the appearance of his wife, etc. Moderators - it is in your and the forum members' best interest to block the inappropriate posters.

My armchair psychological analysis of Mike

Here’s a guy who was drawn to the entertainment industry because he needed external attention/validation. For whatever reason he didn’t become the star he wished, and he sees his peers Kelly Ripa and Cecily Tynan live the life he wanted. He ends up being a wedding DJ, which fits with his personality. I imagine this is a bitter pill to swallow when he spent years hoping he’d end up on national TV. So he’s living in obscurity, trying to be a popular guy among his circle of acquaintances, and it’s clear he cheated to achieve his BQ Dream. He cheated because he needed the attention of being a BQ runner – not the fulfillment of achieving a hard goal. Now he’s thrust back into the spotlight, and the rush of the audience comes back to him. Even if the attention is negative, he simply needs it. The amount of time he spends managing Twitter and posting for the benefit of anonymous strangers is unbelievable. He posts about how good his life is, and no one likes it. No one. I feel bad for him, but not that bad.

Where do we go from here?

I don’t see any reason Mike has to confess, ever. Calls for him to confess are like asking a vulture to stop being a scavenger – you can do it, but your demands fall on deaf ears. The $10,000 will go unclaimed, as will the $100,000.

My advice to Mike

I guess it hinges on one question: are you are also lying to your wife and kids about Via and the turkey trot? If so, in all sincerity, come clean with a good therapist, and start getting some unbiased advice on how to move towards a fulfilling life. This is a low point, and you can use it to turn things around.

nomadgecko wrote:

I’ve been a longtime lurker on this thread. This story particularly resonates with me because I live just outside of Boston, I BQ’d this fall at the Philadelphia Marathon, and I’m almost his age.

Advice to the forum

The phenomenal work that was done proving beyond a reasonable doubt that he cheated shows how the internet can be used for good. But stray not into the dark side; when you see others posting inappropriate comments, don’t engage and encourage them. Be the change you want to see in the world. Stop engaging the trolls - drop the discussions about the prestige of his job, the appearance of his wife, etc. Moderators - it is in your and the forum members' best interest to block the inappropriate posters.

My armchair psychological analysis of Mike

Here’s a guy who was drawn to the entertainment industry because he needed external attention/validation. For whatever reason he didn’t become the star he wished, and he sees his peers Kelly Ripa and Cecily Tynan live the life he wanted. He ends up being a wedding DJ, which fits with his personality. I imagine this is a bitter pill to swallow when he spent years hoping he’d end up on national TV. So he’s living in obscurity, trying to be a popular guy among his circle of acquaintances, and it’s clear he cheated to achieve his BQ Dream. He cheated because he needed the attention of being a BQ runner – not the fulfillment of achieving a hard goal. Now he’s thrust back into the spotlight, and the rush of the audience comes back to him. Even if the attention is negative, he simply needs it. The amount of time he spends managing Twitter and posting for the benefit of anonymous strangers is unbelievable. He posts about how good his life is, and no one likes it. No one. I feel bad for him, but not that bad.

Where do we go from here?

I don’t see any reason Mike has to confess, ever. Calls for him to confess are like asking a vulture to stop being a scavenger – you can do it, but your demands fall on deaf ears. The $10,000 will go unclaimed, as will the $100,000.

My advice to Mike

I guess it hinges on one question: are you are also lying to your wife and kids about Via and the turkey trot? If so, in all sincerity, come clean with a good therapist, and start getting some unbiased advice on how to move towards a fulfilling life. This is a low point, and you can use it to turn things around.

3:21:45 wrote:

Just a quick bit of advice. Don't give away so much personal information. I am pretty sure he will be able to find you and attack you for your seemingly civil post . Here are some of the things one might expect upon being outed:

Personal attacks and intimidation , attacks against family members ( sometimes against minors and often very in appropriate ) , attacks against your business or form of income , posting of personal address .

nomadgecko wrote:

I’ve been a longtime lurker on this thread. This story particularly resonates with me because I live just outside of Boston, I BQ’d this fall at the Philadelphia Marathon, and I’m almost his age.

Advice to the forum

The phenomenal work that was done proving beyond a reasonable doubt that he cheated shows how the internet can be used for good. But stray not into the dark side; when you see others posting inappropriate comments, don’t engage and encourage them. Be the change you want to see in the world. Stop engaging the trolls - drop the discussions about the prestige of his job, the appearance of his wife, etc. Moderators - it is in your and the forum members' best interest to block the inappropriate posters.

My armchair psychological analysis of Mike

Here’s a guy who was drawn to the entertainment industry because he needed external attention/validation. For whatever reason he didn’t become the star he wished, and he sees his peers Kelly Ripa and Cecily Tynan live the life he wanted. He ends up being a wedding DJ, which fits with his personality. I imagine this is a bitter pill to swallow when he spent years hoping he’d end up on national TV. So he’s living in obscurity, trying to be a popular guy among his circle of acquaintances, and it’s clear he cheated to achieve his BQ Dream. He cheated because he needed the attention of being a BQ runner – not the fulfillment of achieving a hard goal. Now he’s thrust back into the spotlight, and the rush of the audience comes back to him. Even if the attention is negative, he simply needs it. The amount of time he spends managing Twitter and posting for the benefit of anonymous strangers is unbelievable. He posts about how good his life is, and no one likes it. No one. I feel bad for him, but not that bad.

Where do we go from here?

I don’t see any reason Mike has to confess, ever. Calls for him to confess are like asking a vulture to stop being a scavenger – you can do it, but your demands fall on deaf ears. The $10,000 will go unclaimed, as will the $100,000.

My advice to Mike

I guess it hinges on one question: are you are also lying to your wife and kids about Via and the turkey trot? If so, in all sincerity, come clean with a good therapist, and start getting some unbiased advice on how to move towards a fulfilling life. This is a low point, and you can use it to turn things around.