Frank Meza 2:53:10 at LA Marathon (70 years old) unofficial time (just finished)

Loyola High Athetics Twitter feed is a good place to help spread the News of Coach Frank's amazing "achievements".

https://twitter.com/LoyolaAthletics

LoLyola wrote:

Meza's comments to Burfoot regarding running with "the boys" on Sunday's also basically incriminates himself (and thus, the Loyola program) of violating CIF-SS rules:

QUESTION: Does a meeting on Sunday of a single student with a coach constitute a violation of Bylaw 1410?

ANSWER: Yes, the intent of Bylaw 1410 is to allow no contact with student athletes on Sundays.

https://cifss.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-2019-blue-book-final-7-31-18.pdf

Frankie's attorney would eviscerate the argument that a CIF by-law about badminton would preclude him from running with the boys on Sunday.

LoLyola wrote:

Meza's comments to Burfoot regarding running with "the boys" on Sunday's also basically incriminates himself (and thus, the Loyola program) of violating CIF-SS rules:

QUESTION: Does a meeting on Sunday of a single student with a coach constitute a violation of Bylaw 1410?

ANSWER: Yes, the intent of Bylaw 1410 is to allow no contact with student athletes on Sundays.

https://cifss.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-2019-blue-book-final-7-31-18.pdf

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. So this needs to be reported, I presume. Unreal. Dr. Meza has by his conscious and calculated actions to cheat opened up a Pandora's Box that good people or seemingly good people will have to deal with for a long time.

The bigger point is what are the public and private institutions like CIF-SS, LA Marathon, Phoenix Marathon, etc. going to do and, or not doing? I'm presently not as concerned with Letsrun's editors , Runner's World, etc. (they will after the fact) not getting on this story (Although it's definitely a journalistic failure since this IS a fascinating story from various angles no matter what perspective you have).: It's the institutions that are failing to do the right thing: race directors, running organizations, etc need to step up NOW. There's no doubt he's a cheater at races and definitely lied/fibbed to Burfoot and Murphy. The shiny coin is the fixation on whether he can run a sub-3 or even sub 3:15 marathon. ( He cant ). It's that it's been proven that he cheated at two marathons and the LA Marathon and Phoenix Marathon have done nothing. Shame on them and others who should and can do better enforcing their rules and the rules of the sport.

That restriction is in both the Cross Country and the Track & Field sections. Not just badminton.

Great work zeroing in.

Avid Hobby Jogger wrote:

That restriction is in both the Cross Country and the Track & Field sections. Not just badminton.

Sorry, I referenced the wrong bylaw. But yes, they have the restriction for all sports. Here are the bylaws referenced for Track and Cross Country

1813. SUNDAY RESTRICTION

A school may not participate in a cross country meet nor conduct a cross country practice of any type on Sunday during the season of sport.

QUESTION: Does a meeting on Sunday of a single student with a coach constitute a violation of Bylaw 2618?

ANSWER: Yes, the intent of Bylaw 2618 is to allow no contact with student athletes on Sundays.

#2919. SUNDAY RESTRICTION

A school may not participate in a track and field meet nor conduct a track and field practice of any type on Sunday during the season of sport.

QUESTION: Does a meeting on Sunday of a single student with a coach constitute a violation of Bylaw 2919?

ANSWER: Yes, the intent of Bylaw 2919 is to allow no contact with student athletes on Sundays.

doubler wrote:

pathfinder wrote:

I'm still not convinced that was Diaz that threatened. Anyone can leave a message saying they're Diaz. Before we incriminate someone, we should get evidence locked down.

It would be nice if there was some record of the phone number from which the call came.

It would be an odd choice. I do not see what would have been gained by impersonating Diaz, of all people. Amby has already spoken to Frank and would have known if it were him.

I have the number and have heard the message. I plan to reach out.

At this point, every one of the powers that be at Loyola High School is surely familiar with Amby Burfoot's story and Derek's chronicles of FM's antics. No doubt, conversations have already occurred between administration and Diaz, with the bottom line being for him to tread carefully and probably distance himself at least publicly from FM. Any high level, Catholic, private college prep school cherishes its reputation for integrity as well as its commitment to excellence -- so they should create and keep their distance. I would be shocked if FM remains as their assistant X-C coach next fall the way things are moving. Do nothing & say nothing to feed the story.

Similarly, I would expect FM and his friends to generally shut down, but we will see. At this point, the story is pretty small. Amby Burfoot's story, for instance, shows around 7800 clicks -- no doubt people in running communities in LA, etc. and folks around Loyola know the story, but it hasn't gone viral by any stretch of the imagination. As far as the war room is concerned, though, they know that by virtue of FM's having credited for the two world best times for his age group in the marathon, this thing could be picked up at any time. It is not going away -- so FM has to get on with a new life focused on areas where he hasn't been discredited.

I keep going back to what a reporter might think, looking at this situation. In some ways, for a national sports reporter, is the story "small change" and maybe that is why it hasn't been picked up? Or is it more that it doesn't "feel" right somehow for further investigation?

If Amby Burfoot reads this, I would value his input as a former editor. What would make this story something that, for example, Runners World would consider? The core of the story is pretty strong, but maybe it would have to be linked somehow to some larger angle, like boomers growing older, competing longer, refusing to "grow old"? Or would it need to be an example in a larger article about age group cheating?

Better cite would be 1813:

A school may not participate in a cross country meet nor conduct a cross country practice of any type on Sunday during the season of sport.

but even that rule would have no effect outside the season of sport. Frankie's statement about Sunday runs with the boys was not specific as to time of year.

How about... wrote:

It would probably be a sensible idea to email Diaz and point out what is being attributed to him.

Seems odd for a grown man to leave a threatening voicemail and then refuse to pick up the phone or return calls. Sounds just like what an impersonator would do though.

I mean, "I'm phoning on behalf of my friend and telling you to cease and desist because he's retained an attorney". Sounds like something a kid would say.

There was no article at the time. Only Dr. Meza's inner circle knew about Amby's inquiry, so who would the impersonator be? I think Diaz made the call, but then realized he had made a mistake later and refused to pick up the phone when Amby called back.

Helene Elliott from the LA Times finally responded to us regarding writing a story about Frank's transgressions. She advised that she has done an initial investigation and does think Frank cheated, but she is currently off to France to write articles about Women's Soccer, so she will be unable to consider writing the article until she returns. We responded and stressed the importance of having this story written asap. We asked her to have another member of her team write the article.

See the correspondence below.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To: "Elliott, Helene"

Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2019 9:53 AM

Subject: Re: NEED LA TIMES TO WRITE/PUBLISH IMPORTANT SPORTS ARTICLE

Hi Helene,

Thanks for your response. Hopefully someone else on your team can take up this story in your absence. Ultimately, we want you to write it based on your pedigree, but timeliness is critical here, so another writer from your team would suffice. What makes this story strange and compelling is that Frank is 70 years old, an accomplished doctor and important figure in the Latin American community. He volunteers for multiple activities in the community, including acting as an assistant coach to the cross country running team at Loyola High School. As per a new article published yesterday (link below) on the Marathon Investigation site, the Loyola Cross Country coach has come to Frank's defense, threatening a lawsuit against a journalist that was simply asking questions regarding Frank's results. Additionally, a fellow physician of Frank has defended his reputation with generic character claims such as "Frank a great guy. He's a natural runner", etc. Lastly, the LA Marathon has known about Frank's suspicious results since 2015, but still has allowed him to run in 2017, 2018, and 2019 and set records, and still, after being presented with damning evidence from MarathonInvestigation.com, refuses to disqualify Frank and is allowing him to maintain his fraudulent world record (for his age group) set at their race in 2019.

What makes this story important and interesting are the following two points:

1 Why would an elderly, upstanding, accomplished professional and member of the community cheat? We think it comes down to human ego. It's truly the most powerful force we know, especially in a society which greatly values prestige. It looks like for some, like Frank, praise and accomplishment is a drug, and he can't get enough.

2. The other angle of this story is the protection that "important" people receive from their colleagues and community when questioned regarding anomalies and suspicious activity. There is something inside people that is greatly let down when heroes of theirs cheat, which is what we think we are seeing in this case with Frank. Those people would rather blindly and aggressively deny, rather than objectively look at the evidence presented. We think this is an important human story, beyond just exposing the childishness of cheating in a running race. The conversation continues in the LetsRun forum thread (link below) regarding this situation, and it looks like the LetsRun community will not rest until this is rectified. This is where we need the power of the press, which is why we are urging the LA Times to write an article.

https://www.marathoninvestigation.com/2019/06/dr-frank-meza-a-journalistic-view.html

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=9307635&page=114

From: "Elliott, Helene"

Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2019 3:11 AM

Subject: Re: NEED LA TIME TO WRITE/PUBLISH IMPORTANT SPORTS ARTICLE

Thank you for your email. I did some quick research on this person and what I've read seems to support your contention that he cheats.

However, I am about to leave for France to write columns about the women's World Cup soccer tournament, so I don't have the time to do the research and interviews this story would require. If no one else on our staff is interested, perhaps I can write it when I return from France.

Thanks for thinking of me.

Helene Elliott

Sports Columnist

Los Angeles Times

Sent: Wednesday, June 5, 2019 8:29:28 AM

To: Tips; Elliott, Helene; Hernandez, Dylan; Markazi, Arash; Plaschke, Bill; Sondheimer, Eric

Subject: NEED LA TIME TO WRITE/PUBLISH IMPORTANT SPORTS ARTICLE

EXTERNAL SOURCE

Hi LA TIMES!

An unsettling story has arisen on LetsRun.com (top running site with well known online forum) regarding a 70 year old man named Frank Meza who has been cheating at marathons over the past 10 years. This likely would have gone unnoticed if Frank kept his results somewhat believable based on his running pedigree. Instead, Frank has used his cheating to set world records for his age group. Most recently, he ran a World Record (for 70+ years old) of 2:53 at the Los Angeles Marathon. After scrutinizing his record breaking run, people on LetsRun found that in the Los Angeles Marathon and his other marathons over the past 10 years, there are tremendous suspicious anomalies present in his race. Most specifically, Frank does not appear in many race photos, misses many timing mats, rarely appears in race photos, and when appearing in race video, is running considerably slow than his alleged pace (ie: the people in the video near him are running 2:53 pace and quickly gap Frank. In the video, he is likely running 9 minute pace). There is video of Frank standing on the sidewalk in the middle of the Los Angeles Marathon for 1 minute and then jumping in to run across the timing mat. Ultimately, Frank is likely riding a bike to the time mats, jumping in to run across the mat, and then getting back on the bike to ride to the next timing mat. He methodically plans when to cross the timing mat (ie: he crosses the mat to align with 2:53 overall pace). He has already been disqualified twice by the California International Marathon (CIM) for this suspicious behavior, but many of the other marathons he has run have not disqualified him. What makes this behavior from Frank even more concerning is that he is a Medical Doctor for Kaiser Permanente. We should expect better behavior and morality from a doctor.

Marathoninvestigation.com (link below) and the LetsRun thread (link below; 1648 post thus far) have already exposed Frank's behavior in detail. The last remaining issue is that after being presented with the evidence, the Los Angeles Marathon refuses to disqualify Frank (below is their response in italics). Allowing him to keep this world record he set at the Los Angeles Marathon is not acceptable to the running community and fans of fair play.

LAM Response: We’ve decided to take a different tact: Next time Frank runs one of our races there will be an official observer in place. This is a great opportunity for him to confirm his past performances and end the conversation. Pending any additional information, this is the best solution for all. Appreciate your efforts. Best.LAM"

The article we need LA TIMES to write is to document the issue and highlight that the Los Angeles Marathon will not disqualify him. We need the power of the press here. We need to pressure the Los Angeles Marathon to do the right thing and disqualify him. We know that cheating stories regarding Kip Litton, Julie Miller, and Robert Young have gone viral and garnered significant media attention. This is the next story that needs to be covered. Please help us.

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=9307635&page=82

https://www.marathoninvestigation.com/2019/06/frank-meza-additional-evidence-la-marathon-course-cutting.html

Turtle Time? wrote:

What would make this story something that, for example, Runners World would consider?

Outside of product reviews and advertising, Runner's World predominately focuses on positive and uplifting stories. Absolutely nothing about this story is positive or uplifting.

Agree. LA Times, though, should pounce.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood wrote:

Better cite would be 1813:

A school may not participate in a cross country meet nor conduct a cross country practice of any type on Sunday during the season of sport.

but even that rule would have no effect outside the season of sport. Frankie's statement about Sunday runs with the boys was not specific as to time of year.

I think you have lost the jury here, best let this one go

Corruption of minors

good work. Send the same note to The New York Times: Jen A. Miller, Lindsay Crouse, Sarah Lyall (she did the Julie Miller story).

Good job, viral... There are a lot of dogs on the hunt now. Best he just come clean.

Letsrun is probably the world most unique, and bizarrely effective crowd sourcing place out there.

ok already wrote:

I am starting to feel like this may be going too far in the realm of public humiliation. His misdeeds have been brought to light and hopefully the wrongs will be made right. He made some terrible lapses in judgement.

Is it about time to move on?

It's not over until doubler has completed his public humiliation and ruined someone.

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Habor? wrote:

ok already wrote:

I am starting to feel like this may be going too far in the realm of public humiliation. His misdeeds have been brought to light and hopefully the wrongs will be made right. He made some terrible lapses in judgement.

Is it about time to move on?

It's not over until doubler has completed his public humiliation and ruined someone.

No, he ruined himself. Nice try thou, feel better now?

If you apologize, most will forgive: this was a rule taught at a hotel I used to work for.