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

In this vein, I think the crucial question in whether there was one camera spot that captured EVERY other runner. What I have seen so far is (1) that MR was the only runner that doesn't have any non-finish-line pictures; and (2) that there was at least one camera spot that, due to the view and picture-frequency, really should show him if he in fact ran. If it could be shown that every other runner was captured at his one spot, I would think that this would be definitive. Did I miss this? Wouldn't it be the last nail in the coffin?

I think the point about burden of proof is a good one. As I understand it, if a hypothetical DQ were to be tested in court, it would almost assuredly be in civil court. Breach of contract is a civil wrong, and if it is libel/slander it would also be civil. I dont see anyway that the DQ could be a criminal offense. The burden of proof in civil court would be "preponderance of the evidence" which is basically a test of "does the evidence show this to be more likely true than not," or as a lawyer once told me, "the legal equivalent of crossing the 50 yard line." I dont see any way that any suit by Rossi Ruiz for breaking the contract (entry form signed by Rossi) or libel would have any chance in court. If I were Via, I would DQ him without hesitation and be fully prepared to counter sue him for legal costs the second he files any complaint.

Basically Rossi's "lawyering up" attempts are pointless as he will only waste money on the lawyer and end up owing Via costs and fees.

Both of his posts have been screenprinted and added to the evidence spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1s0f2sI8FvoD4nFriEngQQXhwBqYbVLq0V5VjI2ARRp4/edit#gid=0

PR's wrote:

runner felice wrote:http://sarahbw80.blogspot.com/2015/05/catching-cheat-did-mike-rossi-cheat-to.html

Hadn't thought of this (and didn't verify if completely accurate), but she brings up good point if so -- his 3:11 pace would mean a PR at all the intermediate distances along the way.

i can't take credit, it was discussed a while back on here (Have read every post since the start, think my husband might be starting divorce proceedings :) )

I can certainly send them a link to the evidence spreadsheet. it has everything on there except the dumb funny things. Will see if I can find a contact email address although they make be getting bombarded with emails so will most likely ignore it

A lawsuit brought by Rossi Ruiz would be a non-starter.

A suit against the marathon (regarding a DQ) would just be a trotting out of the evidence that he cheated (see above post and imagine a jury looking at thousands of pictures that he isn't in, one expert on pacing and indicators of physical ability, reviews of Facebook posts and blogs...you get the point) against his claim that he did run (a selfie at the beginning and crossing the line at the end). The jury would be insulted that he even wasted their time and they would drop the hammer accordingly.

A defamation suit is even uglier. He is a public figure (as a radio host and due to the letter to the principal), so he would have to show that the comments ("He cheated") were false AND made with actual malice (the person making the statement either knew the statement to be untrue or acted with a reckless disregard for what might be true).

Either way he would 1) lose and 2) be handed a huge bill.

This isn't a murder trial. The lack of photos is more than enough for a DQ.

SaraB wrote:

I can certainly send them a link to the evidence spreadsheet. it has everything on there except the dumb funny things. Will see if I can find a contact email address although they make be getting bombarded with emails so will most likely ignore it

Contact the brojos, they're interested in this case and can forward the spreadsheet, or can establish contact with the RD to give him a heads up that you have a great spreadsheet documenting the evidence.

More gold from you my dear ~ thanks! I had a strong feeling he would engage in social damage control with those in his circles that he believes wouldn't know or care enough to doubt his 3:11. The battle you refer to has to do with someone in his industry who had some sour interactions with MR and got burned of course. If you aren't familiar, in the US you can break DJ's into two categories: 1) the reserved and humble kind who understand they are offering a service to others and should not be the center of attention and 2) wanna-be celebrity types who would be very obnoxious all night (never ending "look at me" type of statements). I was particularly selective with my wedding DJ for this reason. I told this young lady I was paying her to play this specific playlist and made clear her job that night was to blend into the curtains and not say a word, just keep the music flowing. The MR type will probably show up with pyrotechnics and hand out fliers at your wedding. This is why that dude has beef with him.

Your comment is spot on, he should stop running around the issue and answer simple questions. I admit I may not remember exact splits in a marathon other than the halfway mark and finish time, but I would definitely be able to reasonably tell you how I was feeling and my relative speed through different parts of the race. You just don't forget that stuff. I'm shocked he hasn't come out and used the "I can't comment on this for legal reasons" excuse.

Sorry but i'm a bit dumb, who are the brojos?

Tuesday Heartbreak wrote:

In this vein, I think the crucial question in whether there was one camera spot that captured EVERY other runner. What I have seen so far is (1) that MR was the only runner that doesn't have any non-finish-line pictures; and (2) that there was at least one camera spot that, due to the view and picture-frequency, really should show him if he in fact ran. If it could be shown that every other runner was captured at his one spot, I would think that this would be definitive. Did I miss this? Wouldn't it be the last nail in the coffin?

There were three camera spots that captured every one of the 20 runners who finished closest to Rossi. One of those spots was less than half an hour before the finish of the race. It is in the spreadsheet under the tab "Checkpoints for places 104-124"

That is plenty of proof for a DQ. I don't think a photo of EVERY runner is necessary or even all that relevant. It doesn't really matter if every person who ran 4:30-5:30 got captured. We are interested in a guy who was purportedly on the course from 7:10:31 AM to 10:22:16 AM running 7:19/mi. There is no proof that that happened.

Can't wait to read some responses to this!But here is the story:http://www.letsrun.com/whats-letsrun-com/

SaraB wrote:

Sorry but i'm a bit dumb, who are the brojos?

SaraB wrote:

Sorry but i'm a bit dumb, who are the brojos?

Robert and Weldon Johnson he creators of LetsRun :)

Has anything new been said in the last 100 pages?

Forgive me if this has been suggested earlier...I have read through the entire thread, but since it is so long it is completely possible that I missed this.

In much of the northeast, we have the EZPass system. It tracks where you got on and off the highway and at what times (think of it as a timing chip for your car instead of on your race bib). I am not familiar with the roadways in that part of Pennsylvania, but if MR did, indeed, drive his car from the Start to the Finish, then there may well be a record of it with the Pennsylvania Highway Dept.

And no, he couldn't say that it was his wife or someone else driving his car bc they snap a pic of every car as it goes through the tollbooth. The driver is clearly visible in the photo. And this is one photographer he could NOT avoid.

Just a thought.

Thanks Cookie, but I figured it out now. Rossi is posted links about the photographer who posted some information about Rossi on Hal Hidgon's second post. In response it appears that Rossi has been going into facebook groups including Dopey and posting the negative articles about this person in order to discredit him. It's all on the evidence spreadsheet now.

I know it's unlikely that anyone would know their exact marathon splits if they don't have GPs data, especially like 7 months later but he should have a general idea. For example, I can tell you in my marathon that I slowed down to 11/mm (Yeap I'm slow) at 14 to 16 miles during a big hill but I picked up speed in the last 9 miles and was doing 9/mm in the last three miles and finished with a 7:30/mm sprint. I knew that as soon as I had finished just by looking at my watch. I did 40 odd races in 2014 and i'm pretty sure I could tell you which ones were positive, negative or even splits without checking, especially for the ones I was going for a specific time for.

there aren't any toll roads between the start and the finish.

iiagdtr wrote:

Can't wait to read some responses to this!

But here is the story:

http://www.letsrun.com/whats-letsrun-com/

SaraB wrote:

Sorry but i'm a bit dumb, who are the brojos?

Ah, thank you.

He said he had his phone. If the location services were on, Google would have a map of where he has been.

I can see everything my phone has been in the last three years via my google account.