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

Scott Dominguez wrote:

My name is Scott Dominguez and I am a 1996 graduate of Loyola High School where my cross-country teammates and I were coached by Dr. Meza. From Loyola High, I went on to Georgetown University and then law school at UCLA Law. I am now a Deputy District Attorney here in Los Angeles. I can guarantee you that these allegations that Dr. Meza would "cheat" on his times is FALSE! Between freshman year in 1992 at Loyola, through senior year in 1996, Dr. Meza ran every workout with us and would smoke us when it came to longer distances. He is a runner's runner, and a GREAT guy. My brother (who also ran cross-country at Loyola) and I were raised by a single mother who worked multiple jobs to get us to Loyola. Dr. Meza would give us rides to and from meets, buy us running shoes when my Mom couldn't afford the best running shoes, and covered fees for our training camps. He would buy us lunch and dinner! AND he always ran FAST. You can ask anybody on our team, from the number one Varsity runner (I never ran faster than the number three runner on Varsity), to the last kid on Frosh/Soph....Dr. Meza is FAST when it comes to long distances, and he doesn't cheat. PLEASE let your LA Times readers know that Dr. Meza's literally thousands of runners who he has coached will stand up and support him. He deserves better than the libel that has been posted by internet trolls who have nothing better to do, are uninformed, and are flat out wrong. I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you, provide any verification you may need and correct these very unfair and sad accusations against such a wonderful and positive influence for so many people.

rojo wrote:

So my interest in this cheating thread has been like all of the other. I've been aware of it but paid no attention to it. Eventaully a thread normally gets big enough that I decide to look into it. This time it was a little different.

A few weeks ago the LA Times reporter called to ask me if I knew anything about it all. I told him I hadn't looked into it at all but would soon and get a quick conclusion.

Sure enough, I read this thread for about 10 minutes and then the marathon investigation articles and realizde the guy is a cheat. I thought the LA Times article did an ok job save for one crucial thing. Why are we debating if he's a cheat? He's been DQd from two races. You don't get DQd unless you cheat.

The only questton is whether he cheated in his age 70 WR run and Derek Murphy proved tha the did. No one in the world slows down nearly 2 minutes per mile before half-way in marathon and then runs a WR.

MI wrote:

On the section of the course that we can prove Frank ran, his pace was much slower than any of his other recorded splits. His verified pace of 8:23 minutes per mile is nearly two minutes per mile slower than his overall pace.

That simply doesn't happen. Case closed.

So what do you guys want me to do? Write an article calling him a cheat? Issue another Mike Rossi tpe challenge?

I offered Mike Rossi $200,000 if he broke his time at a legit marathon. He didn't do it. I also offered him $10,000 to run a 5k in 20:00.

Should I do something like that here?

I mean his marathon is equivalent to a sub 18 5k. There's zero chance he could do that as the US record is 18:43.

HIs marathon race pace comes out to 20:31 for 5k. Should we offer $10,000 for that or is that too easy? I don't think many 70 year olds are capable of that let alone a fraud like this guy.

Do we know anyone who runs with the guys? Is there a training group he is part of ? I mean if you are running 3 hours in the marathon you have to be training fairly often and would be seen. I'd like to get a little more info and then issue a challenge.

Let me hear your ideas as to what you want me to do.

Honest question wrote:

Scott Dominguez wrote:

My name is Scott Dominguez and I am a 1996 graduate of Loyola High School where my cross-country teammates and I were coached by Dr. Meza. From Loyola High, I went on to Georgetown University and then law school at UCLA Law. I am now a Deputy District Attorney here in Los Angeles. I can guarantee you that these allegations that Dr. Meza would "cheat" on his times is FALSE! Between freshman year in 1992 at Loyola, through senior year in 1996, Dr. Meza ran every workout with us and would smoke us when it came to longer distances. He is a runner's runner, and a GREAT guy. My brother (who also ran cross-country at Loyola) and I were raised by a single mother who worked multiple jobs to get us to Loyola. Dr. Meza would give us rides to and from meets, buy us running shoes when my Mom couldn't afford the best running shoes, and covered fees for our training camps. He would buy us lunch and dinner! AND he always ran FAST. You can ask anybody on our team, from the number one Varsity runner (I never ran faster than the number three runner on Varsity), to the last kid on Frosh/Soph....Dr. Meza is FAST when it comes to long distances, and he doesn't cheat. PLEASE let your LA Times readers know that Dr. Meza's literally thousands of runners who he has coached will stand up and support him. He deserves better than the libel that has been posted by internet trolls who have nothing better to do, are uninformed, and are flat out wrong. I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you, provide any verification you may need and correct these very unfair and sad accusations against such a wonderful and positive influence for so many people.

Are you using the office of the DA to defend Frank, and now intimidate posters here seeking the truth?

Avocado's Number wrote:

triathleteguru wrote:

I think it is humorous and hopefully a few others do to.

I don't think it's particularly humorous, but more to the point, it's extremely unhelpful to post a "doctored" video, chopping up and re-ordering Frank's words in order to misrepresent what he has said. Presumably, you want to show that he is a fraud -- not that you, too, are capable of misrepresenting things, even if your intent is humorous.

If you want to be helpful, post the original video, starting with Frank's claim that he "just completed the LA marathon a few hours ago in what I hope is the U.S. record time for a 66-year-old," followed by the unintentionally ironic comment that "Frank Meza's the real deal . . . You know, he walks the walk after he talks the talk," along with the numerous other words of praise by friends and colleagues who may -- or may not -- have been duped by his claims. That video, which was previously posted on at least two web sites lauding Frank's accomplishments, has apparently been deleted, and I'm hoping that you or someone else here has saved it. It would be useful in rebutting assertions that he never trumpeted his alleged running achievements and questions from some who are wondering why so many people seem to be picking on a now-retired 70-year-old physician for what may appear to be a little harmless fibbing.

Avocado's Number wrote:

If you want to be helpful, post the original video, starting with Frank's claim that he "just completed the LA marathon a few hours ago in what I hope is the U.S. record time for a 66-year-old," followed by the unintentionally ironic comment that "Frank Meza's the real deal . . . You know, he walks the walk after he talks the talk," along with the numerous other words of praise by friends and colleagues who may -- or may not -- have been duped by his claims. That video, which was previously posted on at least two web sites lauding Frank's accomplishments, has apparently been deleted, and I'm hoping that you or someone else here has saved it. It would be useful in rebutting assertions that he never trumpeted his alleged running achievements and questions from some who are wondering why so many people seem to be picking on a now-retired 70-year-old physician for what may appear to be a little harmless fibbing.