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

Link wrote:

What I've noticed on my social media feeds is that his open letter to the principal has become, like too much else in America, a lightning rod for politics - every rightwinger on my fb feed, for example, has posted positively about his letter. Especially the culture warriors. That entire group believes they are the most oppressed people in America. If MR gets DQ'd it's going to fit right into that narrative. I doubt that MR is that smart, but, he couldn't have planned this any better than what's about to happen. Before this is done, he'll have his own show on Fox and be pulling down six figure speaking fees.

I tend to lean libertarian and I didn't like his letter at all. I thought it was self-serving, self-righteous, and over the top douchebaggery. And it wasn't "jealousy" of his accomplishments - I've run boston 3 times all with legitimate qualifying times.

There are certainly a lot of overreaching school administrators out there. This principal informing him of a school policy is let even close to one of them. Let's not turn this into a political thing. It's not. It's about a guy who likely cheated and then shot off his mouth.

So....in a match race between Kip Litton and Mike Rossi who wins? And how?

NowFindJimmyHoffa wrote:

Let's not turn this into a political thing. It's not. It's about a guy who likely cheated and then shot off his mouth.

This thread isn't about the initial letter, though would anyone really argue that the initial letter is a lot easier to support for those who already have low opinions of teachers and school administrators?

I don't disagree with his overarching premise that trips with family outside of school can be educational. I do have a problem with the way he want about making that point. If it were me, I would have asked to meet with the principal and explained the situation. Also, I would have met with the principal and their teachers in advance so that I could get the assignments that the kids would be missing when they were on the trip. Seems like a much more reasonable, rational, sensible approach.

I don't disagree with his overarching premise that trips with family outside of school can be educational. I do have a problem with the way he want about making that point. If it were me, I would have asked to meet with the principal and explained the situation. Also, I would have met with the principal and their teachers in advance so that I could get the assignments that the kids would be missing when they were on the trip. Seems like a much more reasonable, rational, sensible approach.

Link wrote:

Before this is done, he'll have his own show on Fox and be pulling down six figure speaking fees.

Move over Joe the Plumber; here comes Mike the Marathoner. No photos please!

SaraB wrote:

Off topic, but just wanted to say that the lady suspected of cheating in another race has been discussed in a different group and someone who ran in the same race has reported her to the RD. She would have had to run past them and didn't plus there's other evidence. So if nothing else, this thread has served to find another possible cheat.

and on that thread you posted "All possible cases of cheating should be investigated" C'mon, do you actually hear yourself?? Get some perspective. No less than 11 people missed timing mats in that other race. You need to start drawing a distinction between someone who takes drugs to get into and win the Olympics and someone who quite possibly is new to running and just goofed up. Do you really expect someone who took a wrong turn and finished too early or too late to say hey race director I goofed. And even if they did, the timing people are not likely to change anything.

I was totally on board with the witch hunt when I thought it was for justice, but too many of you are just crazy with rhetoric and obsessive about calling out people blindly as cheaters. It has gotten old.

It is unbelievable to me how obsessive people are on this thread about the tragedy of someone missing Boston as the last person out. Really?? It is wrong and unjust to be sure and race directors need to be more vigilant, but it is excuse territory, an excuse for some on this board to cover their schadenfruede attitude and for others as to why they miss on Boston. Train hard and go out and try again, the cheaters only win if you let them cheat you of your faith in yourself.

Rossi may have seriously hurt himself in this and possibly 1 other person, but you people are letting hate into your heart and that is sad.

crete wrote:

Has anyone mentioned how reedonkulous it was that he listed "culinary arts" as a topic that his kids "learned more about in a week than in a lifetime at school"?

Culinary arts? Seriously? I don't want my kids learning that at school at the expense of academic subjects. I want them to learn math, english, science, foreign language, etc, etc.

I would bet 20 bucks that the culinary arts "education" consisted of lunch at Benihana.

Not optimistically...first off, love the handle. Secondly, I think the key here (if the statement regarding the RD and the 5 person panel is correct) is that these 5 people are "marathon community leaders". I agree with you that Mike's personality is irrelevant when it comes to a DQ decision. I disagree with your points 3 and 4 under PRO MR. There is no statute of limitations for DQ as far as I know and there is precedent for DQ's taking even longer in our sport. While this is not the Olympics, the USTAF and other governing bodies often take accusations and evidence of rules violations seriously regardless of how much time has passed since the alleged infraction.

Now, the fact that this 5 person panel consists of "marathon community leaders" almost guarantees a DQ for Mike. Like I said in my prior post, anyone with experience training or competing in marathons looking at this case objectively (leaving out all the supposed personality issues) will vote for a DQ. Look at the FB posts by senior RW folks or simply look at the length of this thread. LRC can be a very dysfunctional place but it's hard to argue that people on this board aren't knowledgeable and passionate about distance running. If it were a panel of 5 random non-runners Mike would have a chance but he has no chance with 5 folks familiar with the sport.

So, unless Mike provides GPS data from the race or some other evidence he'll almost certainly be DQ'd. They're obviously taking their time and taking this seriously, which they should, but unless there is some evidence that has not been presented on this board I think this is a done deal.

The BAA will likely follow with a DQ as well and if they do they would be wise to do it in a very public fashion to discourage this type of behavior in the future.

Oh FFS.

She didn't take a wrong turn. She knowingly cheated, and then bragged about it.

And yes, I do expect someone who "goofed" to fess up.

Why shouldn't all possible instances of cheating be investigated? It takes a race director about 10 minutes to scan a spreadsheet and look at missed mats and split times that don't make sense.

Is that really too much to ask?

I will argue that. There are no words for how dismayed I am with the state of our educational system and how corrupt the entire school hierarchy is. With this in mind, I saw nothing corrupt or unfair in the letter that was sent to Rossi. The only mistake the principal made was assuming Rossi himself was smart enough to get the gist of the letter. These absences are unexcused. In and of itself that means absolutely nothing. Once it reaches a certain amount (I don't know the number but I bet it's pretty high), the unexcused absences must be reported. His reaction was like freaking out over a speeding ticket because you lose your license if you get five in a three year period. I saw his letter as a hindrance to those of us who have true grievances against genuinely destructive school districts - which as far as I can see, his district wasn't one. (Plus, the fact that he was barely literate and became a figurehead for those who criticize schools did not help the greater casue at all.)

Not the point, but wrote:

NowFindJimmyHoffa wrote:

Let's not turn this into a political thing. It's not. It's about a guy who likely cheated and then shot off his mouth.

This thread isn't about the initial letter, though would anyone really argue that the initial letter is a lot easier to support for those who already have low opinions of teachers and school administrators?

A source close to the family confirmed that it consisted of Mike carbo loading at a Panera bread in Quincy. The kids just watched

cyprus wrote:

crete wrote:

Has anyone mentioned how reedonkulous it was that he listed "culinary arts" as a topic that his kids "learned more about in a week than in a lifetime at school"?

Culinary arts? Seriously? I don't want my kids learning that at school at the expense of academic subjects. I want them to learn math, english, science, foreign language, etc, etc.

I would bet 20 bucks that the culinary arts "education" consisted of lunch at Benihana.

I was accused of quite a few things in that statement. First, i date hate anyone, like is to short. I'm even nice to Mike (Hi Mike) and you will not find a single comment that I have posted that is derogatory to anyone.

I don't really have any affinity to Boston marathon either. When I say all cheaters, I mean all cheaters not just the ones who cheat to get a BQ. I believe that when there is a percentage increase in getting caught then the percentage of those who cheat goes down. I thing it is hypercritical to only go after cheaters who annoy you for one reason or another. All potential cheaters should be treated equally. If there's not that many then it won't take that long to investigate then will it and I'm more than able to keep up with my own training at the same time. :)

Agree completely. I'm just saying I doubt we're going to get the kind of satisfaction from outing this guy we might think. I hope I'm wrong, but....

At least all the runners I know, regardless of political preference, are outraged over this (of course I don't know any runners who are culture warriors, either, so....)

I wonder if we'll ever see him race again.

As a resident of the same town as Mr. Rossi, and therefore of the Philadelphia metropolitan area, I was curious about the prevalence of cheating in marathons (besides the well known cases) and races, and was taken aback when I discovered the following article written about the lackadaisical concern about cheating in the Philadelphia Marathon, penned by Coach Cane.

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Coach Cane raises some incredibly valid and reasonable reasons why cheating by runners of any ability should be dealt with seriously for both the integrity of the race, the honest runners and the sport. SaraB's comments as well as others regarding this issue is a good seque to Coach Cane's article and I hope the RD and the panel do not shrug their shoulders like those of the Philadelphia Marathon.

crete wrote:

Has anyone mentioned how reedonkulous it was that he listed "culinary arts" as a topic that his kids "learned more about in a week than in a lifetime at school"?

Culinary arts? Seriously? I don't want my kids learning that at school at the expense of academic subjects. I want them to learn math, english, science, foreign language, etc, etc.

I wouldn't call feeding my kids lobster mac 'n cheese "culinary art".

I'll just throw a wild guess out there that you are "Coach Cane."Talk about self-promotion.

Ummm, no I am not. Can you be any more sophomoric?

SaraB wrote:

First, i date hate anyone

SaraB, you need to start a new thread called "Going out on a date on pure hate." It is guaranteed to become a LetsRun classic!