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

what have we concluded on that LR from nike+? It sure looks odd.

Keepin' it real wrote:

JayRuns4Food wrote:http://photos.lehighvalleylive.com/4424/gallery/lehigh_valley_health_network_v_3/index.html#/96

Found my photo. I was right around a 7:15-7:20 pace for the first 18 miles or so. This was along the river on the Lehigh Trail before Bethlehem. He's gotta be around me somewhere, +/- a minute worth of pictures.

I don't know if Rossi cheated or not. I'm just here because this is all compelling stuff ,

JayRuns4Food you are obviously Jayson Hreczuck bib #1606 , when i look for you, you are in 3 photos on the course , in the same area of the course ,yet you have no results listed as finishing , and you aren't on the spread sheet how do explain that ? ....so how can you comment on where Rossi was ? H ow can you have any credibility in this argument ?

Hi Mike. Jay already said he DNF'd around mile 20. He was running a pace similar to your fantasy pace but didn't see you.

There is no proof he did not run

Just evidence that makes it suspicious

I doubt a DQ is coming, deserved or not

Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?

Like what if he ran it but forgot he did and then forgot he didn't and forgot he forgot?

Does anyone know if an RD has ever DQ'd a runner in similar circumstances? Is there precedent for a DQ in this situation?

Code red wrote:

There is no proof he did not run

Just evidence that makes it suspicious

I doubt a DQ is coming, deserved or not

What you mean and what is much more applicable is that there is no proof or evidence, certainly none provided by Mr. Rossi, that he in fact completed the 26.2 mile run along the delineated course. The preponderance of the evidence clearly demonstrates that he did not run the entire race, and one could also argue that the evidence, albeit strong circumstantial evidence, exceeds the threshold of beyond a reasonable doubt. Keep in mind, although this is not a legal/court proceeding, and neither will that conducted and decided by Via Marathon and USATF, court cases, both criminal and civil are usually decided by the same sort of evidence, rarely are there eyewitnesses or tapes to a murder.

Code red wrote:

There is no proof he did not run

Just evidence that makes it suspicious

I doubt a DQ is coming, deserved or not

Good Morning Mike!

Several RD's DQ'd Kip Litton for missing timing mats, missing in photos, and other runners attesting to never seeing him on the course.

I don't really know what to say other than I'm so sorry to hear about your son. I wish I could say something that would help. Please know you've got prayers, thoughts, vibes, and a silent toast in your backfield. I know I'm just an anonymous voice online, but you've got me.

Back to the thread: I don't want to blame the guy's poor kids. They've obviously got it pretty tough. I feel for them.

He cheated and his letter was a blatant attempt at attention and social media fame. Why not just visit the school office and have a nice chat? Why denigrate the teachers?

I didn't like the letter, but I have to say that I do think parents should be given some freedom to take their kids out of school, excused. I went to private, catholic school, and when my parents took us on trips, we had to create an ungraded presentation on what we learned. It could be anything, but we had to do it. It was just enough to keep the parents honest. I remember one year we took a Spring Break trip to Florida and I missed like 4 days of school. I did a report on manatees and even went to an aquarium, took photos, developed them and everything. This was back when they were being killed off by boaters, etc. I learned a lot and it was fun. That was not required... I'm sure I could have just phoned in a presentation on seashells, but I didn't want to.

Anyway, I am not a crazy right-wing nutso, just a dad that likes to travel with kids and thinks a happy medium can be reached with the schools.

This guy harms the chances of that happening. All his kids learned is that their father is a cheater, and that is really sad. I guess they also learned that cheating has consequences, though...

I caused quite the commotion yesterday.

Yes, I was doing well and yes I don't have many pictures because I DNFed at mile 20+ when my right hammy locked up on me. However, I am more than willing to share any and all information I have about the race. Here are my splits:

7:14,7:21,7:13,7:09,7:07,7:13,7:23,7:31,7:23,7:24,7:27,7:29,7:22

7:21,7:40,7:44,8:59,9:55,11:00,12:30

Unfortunately, does to data loss my Garmin crapped out on me and I had to replace it. I was unable to load this race up to garmin connect, however, my warmup run pre-race was uploaded.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/631148145

Also unlike Mike, I have established progression towards my 3:15 goal. Including a previous 3:25 marathon and a 1:30 half.

http://www.athlinks.com/Athletes/165959210

Unfortunately I have had a myriad of injuries, including two major hamstring pulls, a stress fracture and laparoscopic surgery for a hernia which is why my results are inconsistent.

As far as my credibility, well I was in the race and I am also being fully transparent. Two things Mr Rossi was/is not.

Litton Historian wrote:

Several RD's DQ'd Kip Litton for missing timing mats, missing in photos, and other runners attesting to never seeing him on the course.

Right, but in the case of MR, he didn't technically miss any timing mats. In other words, I'm wondering if there has every been a case with these exact same pieces of evidence (missing photos, lack of training runs at a corresponding pace) that resulted in a DQ.

Has it happened before? wrote:

Does anyone know if an RD has ever DQ'd a runner in similar circumstances? Is there precedent for a DQ in this situation?

Runners have been DQ'd from races due to missing split times and photos. Whether this RD has ever done so is unknown.

By the way, I'm surprised that with all the calls within this thread to have Mike DQ'd, people have not flooded the LV Facebook page with comments asking the RD to do just that.

Has it happened before? wrote:

Litton Historian wrote:

Several RD's DQ'd Kip Litton for missing timing mats, missing in photos, and other runners attesting to never seeing him on the course.

Right, but in the case of MR, he didn't technically miss any timing mats. In other words, I'm wondering if there has every been a case with these exact same pieces of evidence (missing photos, lack of training runs at a corresponding pace) that resulted in a DQ.

There has been. He was DQ'd from a 10k race in Michigan:

The RD's letter to Kip:

Kip,

I am the Race Director for the Solstice Run in Northville, MI and many of my fellow running and community friends have brought to my attention the results of the 2009 Solstice Run 10K race event where you were credited with a finish time of 37:14.

I have evidence with videos and pictures taken at various stages of our 2009 10K race on the course and it is apparent you did not run the entire 10K course in the chip time recorded.

One example is a picture of yourself finishing:http://www.runmichigan.com/photogallery/09/solstice10k_062709me_window.php?31

We took note and recognized your tee shirt was dry on such a tough course & high temperature day. You & I know you easily shortcut the course.

My responsibility to the Solstice Run event is to conduct an organized, fair and professional race event with accurate finisher results. Therefore with the evidence in hand can you explain your appearance & lack of previous race times that would support such a solid 6 minute pace on our hilly 10K race event in Northville?

I am prepared to officially "Disqualify" your finish time in 2009 at the Solstice Run dependant on your response and explanation to the evidence received. Please respond by this Sunday, February 6th with your comments and feedback or I will need to make a decision then to process a Disqualification on your entry and finish-time in our 2009 Solstice Run 10K race.

Has it happened before? wrote:

Litton Historian wrote:

Several RD's DQ'd Kip Litton for missing timing mats, missing in photos, and other runners attesting to never seeing him on the course.

Right, but in the case of MR, he didn't technically miss any timing mats. In other words, I'm wondering if there has every been a case with these exact same pieces of evidence (missing photos, lack of training runs at a corresponding pace) that resulted in a DQ.

What hard evidence was used to DQ Rosie Ruiz?

SaraB wrote:

Doktor Freud wrote:

Do you really have nothing better to do with your time?

Yes, lots of stuff. I could, for example, go round lots of different forums asking people if they have nothing better to do with their time. Or maybe just troll the trolls? Do you have nothing better to do with your time Doktor Freud than to ask me if I have nothing better to do with my time? Then you could ask me if I have nothing better to do that ask you if you have nothing better to do than ask me, who asked you, who asked me... We could keep this going forever in a trolling vortex.

I love this!!! You rock SaraB! Not only did you put all the work into the spreadsheet you can put the dumba$$ trolls in their place.

Isacheater Rossilini wrote:

Has it happened before? wrote:

Does anyone know if an RD has ever DQ'd a runner in similar circumstances? Is there precedent for a DQ in this situation?

Runners have been DQ'd from races due to missing split times and photos. Whether this RD has ever done so is unknown.

By the way, I'm surprised that with all the calls within this thread to have Mike DQ'd, people have not flooded the LV Facebook page with comments asking the RD to do just that.

https://www.facebook.com/ViaMarathon

Right, I know that there is a precedent for a DQ in the case of missing split times AND photos. However, in this case there are no missing split times, because there were no timing mats in the middle of the course. Is there a precedent for a DQ based solely on lack of photos?

As I type this, I'm realizing that I sound like a Mike Rossi sympathizer, and I'm not. I 100% believe he cheated, and I 100% hope he gets a DQ. I think he is exactly the type of egotistical dude who deserves a public shaming. That said, I don't want to get my hopes up for a DQ, because I don't know if an RD has ever DQ'd in this sort of situation.

Thanks! I didn't know about that case. I'm excited to hear that there is precedent for this sort of thing. Here's hoping the LVM RD has the same approach.

Yes it has happened before and there is precedent. Please read Hal Higdon's piece