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

bored troller wrote:

C- on the article.

Headline lacks his title "Dr." He has the ego to enter races as Frank Meza, M.D. Dr. should be in the damn headline. Without it, average readers aren't going to even look at it.

As said above, it says he was caught reentering the course after peeing, but the article completely fails to mention he was captured for over a minute standing still on the side of the course, then again for prolonged break stretching in the background of other runner's photos. The article should have stressed that these 2 breaks would not be compatible with a sub 3 hour marathon.

I was amused that they called Derek an amateur. "Derek Murphy, an amateur sleuth who operates the site from Ohio, looked back at numerous races, compiling an array of data, photographs and video that he considers incriminating."

He is an amateur sleuth like the rest of us. Thanks for all the attribution for the work we at LRC did.

I'm sure we an all sleep a little better knowing that this has travesty has been exposed and his long run of deceit is over.

Roderick Powell wrote:

https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-marathon-cheating-allegations-frank-meza-20190621-story.html

LA Times tapped him with kid gloves. What a weak article.

Ben L Wrong wrote:

It's not difficult to find college track/XC rosters...lets see if he had a track scholarship after all.

Although it may seem something of a side issue, this is something I've wondered about from early on, shortly after I first read about his world-class age-group performances. Based on his own statements that he "went to college on a track scholarship," I looked for additional information about his college track career, but had a difficult time figuring out what college he allegedly attended on a track scholarship. One article, from 1993, says that he was a pre-med student at UC Berkeley, and that "he went on to earn a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's in public health from UCLA, bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Cal State Northridge, and an MD from UC Davis."

Later biographical summaries also cite his two journalism degrees from Cal State Northridge, but say nothing about his undergraduate studies at Berkeley or his bachelor's degree in biology.

"Dr. Frank Meza received B.A. and M.A. degrees in Journalism from California State University at Northridge (1972 and 1974), an M.P.H. degree in Epidemiology from U.C.L.A. (1974) and an M.D. degree from UC Davis (1978)."

I'm pretty sure that I've never seen anything about his track career at Berkeley, Cal State Northridge, or any other college. I did see that, at a masters track meet in 1981, Frank Meza ran a 4:39 1500m for second place in the 30-39 age group, which is not bad, but obviously nothing close to the level of a college student on a track scholarship.

In any event, I don't think that it's necessary to go down these rabbit holes. Regarding the legitimacy of his marathon performances, the evidence that I've seen thus far appears utterly damning, and I am skeptical about the veracity of anyone who claims otherwise. Although I understand that a general newspaper audience can't be expected to appreciate fully the evidence that's been assembled, I'm disappointed that the current article in the LA Times may suggest that Frank Meza or any of his close associates are genuinely baffled by the allegations against him.

run4life23 wrote:

(when you are a fast runner, the mats don't always pick up on the chips).

So you’re telling me that Eliud Kipchoge’s timung chip should be missing some timing mats because he did run a world record time?

Softpaws wrote:

Roderick Powell wrote:

https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-marathon-cheating-allegations-frank-meza-20190621-story.html

LA Times tapped him with kid gloves. What a weak article.

I agree. How about stating you don’t run world record time standing on a corner for minutes? How about saying he avoided an observer when given the chance? More pictures of him on the course than off?

In some ways you have to almost respect it: Frank is playing chess and we are playing checkers. The man is connected.

Fred Gwynne wrote:

I was thinking the same thing. I believe we have a real nut on our hands. Is there anyone who can investigate to find out if he is really a doctor? I think his whole life is a fraud.

Make's you wonder, he wouldn't be the first.

Smoove wrote:

In some ways you have to almost respect it: Frank is playing chess and we are playing checkers. The man is connected.

The man is indeed, a fine cheater and an okay liar, though his excuses are a little unimaginative. It is truly amazing that he's gotten away with it for more than 10 years. His attention to detail is (usually) excellent, and he learns from his mistakes, like hitting 18:XX splits. Still, being good at cheating and lying is not exactly an admirable trait to most people. And in his mind, I'm sure he's convinced that he's doing absolutely nothing wrong, and he doesn't know why everyone is making such a big deal about it.

I was more impressed by the fact that his standing, and perhaps his connections, seem to have influenced the tone of the article.

A few thoughts/questions:

1. Will LR feature this LA Times article on the front page? Will this article break the “embargo” that seems to exist with the LR front page and this story?

2. Yes, the article left a lot to be desired and was exceptionally soft. However, as others have mentioned before it was released, it was expected that it might be. This article will bring other news outlets to the story. Also, I expect Derek is already well on his way to publishing a response to the article and all the facts they missed.

3. There have already been a few LA athletes in the thread that have stated that Frank was a known cheat. This article might serve to bring additional athletes to the thread that might have additional information.

4. Frank has now dug his hole very deep in the LA Times, most anyone who knows anything about running will know he cheated, especially in the next few days/weeks as more stuff comes out.

Smoove wrote:

I was more impressed by the fact that his standing, and perhaps his connections, seem to have influenced the tone of the article.

Really? There was Diaz, and why wouldn't the reporter give the Loyola High School Head Coach a hearing, he's got to assume he knows what he's talking about and not a total idiot.

The only other one is:

"Former Loyola athlete Scott Dominguez, now an L.A. County deputy district attorney, recalls that every day at practice in the mid-1990’s, “Dr. Meza would lace them up and run with the varsity … running at the front of the pack.” "

Well, probably mid 90's when Miza was 45, and didn't look like the sloth he does now, he was capable of leading out the pack in the warm up or for a mile or two in the tempo run, but in the last ten years when the cheating seems to have started definitely not.

Is he kegboy? wrote:

"“So when Frank is training with them, he’s training with some of the best runners Los Angeles has ever seen,” Diaz says. “People ask who he is running with … that’s who.”

Brandt, who transferred to UCLA where he became an All-American in cross country, was one of those runners. He declined to comment for this article."

Lol, Brandt knows the truth.

in my opinion, robert totally knows the truth. he knows that fm never threw down a 6-minute mile in robert’s presence (as do all of the kids on the team). and if anyone reads derek’s articles there’s no logical explanation to fm’s times, other than that he cut the course. it’s a shame that fm is not man enough to take responsibility for his course cutting and has now put robert in this situation. if i were robert, i wouldn’t be shy about responding... robert didn’t cut the course, frank did. this is his mess. I don’t understand why anyone at lhs is protecting this guy. you’re only going to look silly when more of the details come out.

and, by the way, for those who don’t know, robert is one of the toughest, fiercest and hardest working runners you’ll ever meet. sad thing here is that rb probably thought the times were legit. we all did. we were gullible and wanted to believe.

What stood out for me is that FM didn't know about Lets Run. That right there tells me he isn't a real runner.

Smoove wrote:

In some ways you have to almost respect it: Frank is playing chess and we are playing checkers. The man is connected.

Indeed the man has distinguished himself, has he not? And with all this newfound notoriety, am I alone in thinking exciting things might lie in his future? Maybe a cabinet post? Maybe the Head of Health and Human Services? I think it would be fitting.

All in favor?

i know rb wrote:

in my opinion, robert totally knows the truth.

how did he get drawn in to it

I am not robert. However, he and every other current and former loyola runner who are aware of all of this are smart enough to know that fm cheated

Softpaws wrote:[/b

LA Times tapped him with kid gloves. What a weak article.

Indeed. The worst thing about that article is that it implies that whether or not Frank cheated is something still up for debate, instead of there being mountains of irrefutable evidence against him that to any unbiased observer would go well beyond reasonable doubt.

Rappaport wrote:

I told you to read this thread and then get back to me. You obvious haven’t or you wouldn’t be on this idiotic tirade.

Lamer still, you made the accusation, I said OK back it up, you can't.

1/10