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

long beach marathon 2010 Bib: 10

Name: David Purucker

Gender: M

Age: 77

Hometown: Long Beach, CA

Overall: 3527 out of 3552

Men: 2167 out of 2177

M 75-99: 12 out of 12

Age/Grade: 39.32% Place: 3104

Finish: 7:58:12 Pace: 18:15

Chip Time: 7:58:12

Gun Time: 7:58:15

Split Times

10 Km: 1:44:03 Pace: 16:45

12.5 Mile: 3:38:16 Pace: 17:37

18 Mile: 5:32:41 Pace: 18:29

24 Mile: 7:18:12 Pace: 18:16

Avocado's Number wrote:

Anomaly Frank. wrote:

He had the white timing loop on a lanyan, but had it in his hand after finishing, on the SF2011 just posted above you can see it on the runners shoes. Frank chose to carry it.

Just another Frank anomaly.

What is the white timing loop? Does it carry the so-called chip that is recorded when it passes over a timing mat? Why would you take it off before you finish the race?

Avo's troll is back.

Rod, why do you keep posting results and photos without comment and context, I know you don't want to come across as the bad guy, but FFS add some narrative about why you're posting it and say what you're thinking, we'll still love you if you do, honest.

Hi, I put two results from the Long Beach marathon 2010. Frank Meza and a near last place finisher. (The 8 hour finisher had a 3 second gun to chip difference and hit every timing mat .. in comparison to Frank Meza being a 23 minute gun to chip differential and missing the 10k and 18 mile timing mat. Most runners actually did miss the 18 mile timing mat, while few missed the 10k mat. This indicates to me that Frank Meza was clearly ( in hind sight and plain site) embarked on his path to glory. FYI, earlier races would indicate this all began even earlier than this. As has been noted prior by multiple posters. Nothing wrong with the continued digging into Frank’s past. He obviously wanted to play this, let’s play..

The real one would know all that. wrote:

Avocado's Number wrote:

What is the white timing loop? Does it carry the so-called chip that is recorded when it passes over a timing mat? Why would you take it off before you finish the race?

Avo's troll is back.

No, this time, it's actually the real deal, My last road race was at least fifteen years ago, and I only vaguely remember dealing with a race timing chip once or twice in my life. I don't remember what they look like or how they're supposed to be attached. I also have no idea what any of these various gadgets are for, among other things, listening to music, monitoring physiological values, or phoning accomplices during races.

The burden of proof in a civil court is “a preponderance of evidence.” Analysis of the 2019 LA Marathon video posted on Marathon Investigation provides that level of proof AND shows us how it most likely was done.

The sequence of photos start more than a minute before Frank enters the course at 1:04. This freeze frame sequence shows every runner multiple times. About 200m in the distance in this video, spectators are on the road, which forces all the runners to go by them on the middle-of-the-road. Both sides of the road can be seen clearly from this point on so we know that no one exited the course from that point forward.

Frank is nowhere to be seen on this video until he abruptly enters the course at 1:04 in the video just behind Greek guy (GG) and the Woman in Black (WIB).

At the 15K mat, Frank is 17 seconds behind GG and WIB, yet he reenters the course just behind them at 18.7km. Running the video backwards, GG is visible in the distance from :55 on, yet Frank cannot be seen anywhere on the course until he reenters the course at 1:04. Since the still photos are taken every three seconds, we can definitively say that Frank was not on the course until he is seen jumping into the race at the 1:04 mark.

In order to be so far ahead of GG and WIB that he would not be seen in this sequence of freeze frame photos, Frank would have had to run from 15K to 18.7K faster than the current M70 5K world record pace.

Frank then drops back 1:40 behind GG and WIB over the next .78 miles to the 20k mat… running about an 8:23 pace.

Yet he hits the mats at close to the same pace as GG and WIB over the remaining 22km.

This should be sufficient to convince any reasonable person.

These photos also provide more insight into how this might have been done. I'll post that separately.

CIM should extend an elite entry to Frank meza as an age grouper and an attempt at 70 year old world record.

We’ll see if he makes it to 2 miles

Does anyone know the name of the LA Times writer that is doing the article. I went through a lot of the 2017 San Fran photos and think that I found a bib muling situation going on. I want to send the info to that writer.

And you educate people like me who are after other cheaters.

fisky wrote:

The burden of proof in a civil court is “a preponderance of evidence.” Analysis of the 2019 LA Marathon video posted on Marathon Investigation provides that level of proof AND shows us how it most likely was done.

I don't quite understand why people are still discussing the issue of whether he cheated at the 2019 LA Marathon or any of a number of other races in which ther were obvious irregularities in his performance. The precise methods are a little more interesting, but I think it's much more important at this point to identify others who knew, collaborated, facilitated, covered up, intimidated, suppressed, threatened, or otherwise assisted Frank at various times. Is this a story about the lengths to which people are willing to protect an icon who happens to have an odd proclivity in a hobby? Or is the story more complicated than that?

Amateur Sluether wrote:

Does anyone know the name of the LA Times writer that is doing the article. I went through a lot of the 2017 San Fran photos and think that I found a bib muling situation going on. I want to send the info to that writer.

Did they break an age group world record and use it to promote themselves outside of running ? If not, it’s not news. Keep some perspective as to why this is more important.

Perspective wrote:

Amateur Sluether wrote:

Does anyone know the name of the LA Times writer that is doing the article. I went through a lot of the 2017 San Fran photos and think that I found a bib muling situation going on. I want to send the info to that writer.

Did they break an age group world record and use it to promote themselves outside of running ? If not, it’s not news. Keep some perspective as to why this is more important.

Not in this race, but in a future race. Duh.

Or happen to be cheaters themselves.

You can’t really educate a cheater, they’ve already decided to ignore the truth.

Back in the D-Tag days, putting it on a lanyard made it harder to register on the mats, as he had to bend down and lower it manually over the mats. I don't know why he would make it intentionally harder on himself, unless it was because he needed to hand it off to someone else, possibly a mule/accomplice.

http://www.superracesystems.com/D-Tag_Instructions.htm

LR seems to walk a fine line; they’ve got plenty of enemies.

Roderick Powell wrote:

Hi, I put two results from the Long Beach marathon 2010. Frank Meza and a near last place finisher. (The 8 hour finisher had a 3 second gun to chip difference and hit every timing mat .. in comparison to Frank Meza being a 23 minute gun to chip differential and missing the 10k and 18 mile timing mat. Most runners actually did miss the 18 mile timing mat, while few missed the 10k mat. This indicates to me that Frank Meza was clearly ( in hind sight and plain site) embarked on his path to glory. FYI, earlier races would indicate this all began even earlier than this. As has been noted prior by multiple posters. Nothing wrong with the continued digging into Frank’s past. He obviously wanted to play this, let’s play..

I'm not at all defending FM here, but perhaps this race offered an early start to the run/walkers (including the last-place finisher times you posted). That would explain the last-place finisher's small gun/chip time discrepancy. You'd have to look at time-of-day splits to confirm that the last place guy actually started at the same time as FM, i.e., no early start.

Leapin Lanyards wrote:

Back in the D-Tag days, putting it on a lanyard made it harder to register on the mats, as he had to bend down and lower it manually over the mats. I don't know why he would make it intentionally harder on himself, unless it was because he needed to hand it off to someone else, possibly a mule/accomplice.

http://www.superracesystems.com/D-Tag_Instructions.htm

Thanks. Before this thread, I don't recall ever hearing about D-Tags. Now, if I understand your comment correctly, D-Tags have already been replaced by something else.

Apparently, they still sell them, but they have fallen out of favor.

https://www.innovativetimingsystems.com/timing-chips

I'm sure the bib-mounted chips made things a lot easier for him, as he didn't have to stop/slow down at every mat and lower it on his lanyard.