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

hhkjkkjjkjk wrote:

I wonder if there was ever any point, prior to the "hunt", where MR thought: Damn, this note going viral isn't the best thing to be happening considering how I got into Boston. Or if he was truly oblivious to the possibility of something like this occurring?

I believe it was the real Mike Rossi commenting under his name on the original phillymag.com articles about the school letter. He mostly defended his vacation and sending the letter, said he wasn't asking for attention, boring normal stuff.

But at one point someone commented "he ran the marathon in 4:01;42. How did this guy qualify for Boston in the first place?" and Mike Rossi wrote back "4:01 injured, 3:11 healthy". It's been deleted now but obviously he was completely blind and deaf oblivious and certain he'd gotten away with it.

Some comments are still there, including the one where he compares the Boston Marathon to the Olympics.

SaraB wrote:

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

POD/POY

Nike+ sucks wrote:

Rossiiiii wrote:

I don't understand the Nike + data SaraB posted. I appreciate it shows 18M in 2:22, for 7:54 avg pace, but the graph of his speed doesn't seem to suggest that as an average pace. If you draw a line through the graph at 7:54 average, he's rarely at or above it. Most of the time he's either running slowly or walking. Nothing in the graph suggests he's capable of a 3:30 marathon, let alone a 3:11.

http://i.imgur.com/wATc8eJ.jpg

It would be hilarious if he edited the Nike+ workout data.

The graph doesn't seem to match the route. He started and finished in the same place right? So the elevation for the last three miles should be the first two miles backwards? I've never used Nike + so maybe it's not showing it all but the graph only shows 16 miles if each line spacing is a mile. Mile 15 to 16 does not match miles 2 to 3. Where are miles 5 to 10? Miles 4 to 13 on the graph are obviously an out and back because the elevation is a mirror so the turn around should be mile 8 but again that doesn't seem to match the map. Am I looking at it wrong?

Okay, I have a question - I'd say this board is nearly unanimous in its criticism of Mike Rossi's letter to the principal. But as natural as this is, given how distasteful that letter was, it actually seems to be at odds with the widespread support that the letter generated when it went viral. So what gives?

(1) Maybe the good folks of the letsrun message boards are more well-adjusted than the rest of society? (Or more likely to react negatively to things like Mike's letter for whatever reason.) If so, what is the nature of this difference?

(2) Maybe a lot of people on this board actually did like the letter, but aren't speaking up because it's not really relevant, or it's embarrassing now that we know Mike is a cheater?

(3) Maybe this thread is self-selecting for people who didn't like the letter? (i.e. if you liked the letter you probably won't want to read the thread...I don't really buy this one but it's worth stating)

(4) Maybe the fact that MR has now been caught cheating sheds his letter in a new, ridiculous light, so that some people on here who might have appreciated the letter initially now view it as rank and disgusting hypocrisy?

(5) Or maybe almost no one really approved of the letter to begin with, and it rose to viral prominence through inscrutable internet mechanisms on the wings of a twisted minority?

To our credit, I'd say that we haven't really talked about the letter much, since it isn't really on topic for whether he cheated (except for the delicious irony that he brought this all upon himself with his attention-seeking). But now that we're basically just waiting for the DQ to be handed down from Lehigh, I was wondering what y'all thought of the fact that Mike's letter to the principal seems to be so much less popular on letsrun than elsewhere.

Nike+ sucks wrote:

Rossiiiii wrote:

I don't understand the Nike + data SaraB posted. I appreciate it shows 18M in 2:22, for 7:54 avg pace, but the graph of his speed doesn't seem to suggest that as an average pace. If you draw a line through the graph at 7:54 average, he's rarely at or above it. Most of the time he's either running slowly or walking. Nothing in the graph suggests he's capable of a 3:30 marathon, let alone a 3:11.

http://i.imgur.com/wATc8eJ.jpg

It would be hilarious if he edited the Nike+ workout data.

My guess is those big drops in pace are him stopping (gel? drink? selfie?) and stopping his watch.

(For what it's worth, my feeling is that it's some mix of 1, 4, 5 and other stuff I haven't thought of. And I'm curious about #1, that is, what characteristics people on these boards might have that make them less likely than the general public to like Mike's letter, if indeed that is true.)

I does look like after he turns around, he cuts left and doesn't follow the exact same route. But his pace really doesn't seem to add up. I know that once you hit a certain level you can edit runs on Nike+. The map will be the same, but the pace and everything will be different.

I does look like after he turns around, he cuts left and doesn't follow the exact same route. But his pace really doesn't seem to add up. I know that once you hit a certain level you can edit runs on Nike+. The map will be the same, but the pace and everything will be different.

(6) Most LRC posters do not think for themselves. They have a pack mentality and smell blood in the water.

I don't really care about the letter. I haven't really read it. I've only read the articles about it to check for mention to any races/training and to look at the photos. I think that other than drawing attention to Rossi in the first place the letter is completely irrelevant

Neutral Observertard wrote:

(6) Most LRC posters do not think for themselves. They have a pack mentality and smell blood in the water.

You've mixed metaphors.

If they smell blood in the water, it would be a gam, herd, frenzy, school or shiver mentality.

Have you never watched Shark Week?

kc1223 wrote:

I does look like after he turns around, he cuts left and doesn't follow the exact same route. But his pace really doesn't seem to add up. I know that once you hit a certain level you can edit runs on Nike+. The map will be the same, but the pace and everything will be different.

I just mapped that run on g-maps pedometer. Ummm... it is not 18 miles.

It's hard to be exact, but if you start the run at the corner of Washington and Susquehanna in Abingdon, take it N/NE up Valley Rd, take a right on Fetters Mill to Red Lion and another right on Philmont, go SW on Huntington Pike, put in a turnaround somewhere near Huntington and Rockledge. On the way back, cut off that loop by taking a left on Welsh, then head back on Valley road. That's just about 12 miles. I could be off somewhere, but not by 6 miles.

This keeps getting weirder and weirder.

Is it possible to do screenprints of the map and elevation please?

I would, but I'm at work. It's a pretty quick route to trace on any mapping site if anyone else is willing to do it.

There is a steep hill just outside of his house so he may have started it at his house and stopped it a block or so away. The thing that gets me is that this route is really not runner friendly at all. It's very congested with lots of traffic and intersections. There are no shoulders for large portions of the run. He ran right by my house and I wouldn't run more than 2 miles of this route in training.

It appears he did the leg going down twice which would add a few miles. I can see shaded boxes behind the miles 10, 12, and 13.

I still only show 16 miles looking below at the pace elevation chart.

I'm going to try and map it on Strava.

Resident Zoologist wrote:

Neutral Observertard wrote:

(6) Most LRC posters do not think for themselves. They have a pack mentality and smell blood in the water.

You've mixed metaphors.

If they smell blood in the water, it would be a gam, herd, frenzy, school or shiver mentality.

http://www.sharks-world.com/what_is_a_group_of_sharks_called/

Have you never watched Shark Week?

Fair point. I actually wasted my time wondering if sharks see, smell, or taste blood in the water. I neglected to consider that they don't hunt in packs.