Hey, I have been hearing rumors about such cheating for some time now. I have heard others tell of similar observations! I think you have incredible GUTS to call it like it is!!! And, I don't know who thinks ANYONE could be jealous of a CHEATER, but that is just absurd!
Thanks, I appreciate it. I encourage anyone who might have some information to contact either Guinness World Records or KENS5 News in San Antonio.
So you know neither of them, but somehow can attest to the credibility of BOTH of them. What he does is certainly not legit. He may run the course afterwards, but he does not run the race - the course has closed. He claims that he has run 40+ "Boston Marathons." He doesn't state that he has run the Boston course, he says he has run the Boston Marathon. Nothing different than what Parvaneh does. Run the course after the race has finished.
d2xccoach wrote:
Dave M wrote:He has it in his bio and and his time and consecutive streak are listed in the official Boston Marathon program.
If he can run the course after the race is officially completed and count himself (as RD) as an official finisher, so can this lady. One cannot be discounted without discounting the other.
You know neither Dave, nor Parvaneh You are in no position to judge his or her credibility...
While it is correct that I do not know Parvaneh it would be incorrect to say that I do not know McGillvray. I don't know him well, but I have had a number of conversatiosn with him and we occasionally exchange emails. He has been a wonderful resource over the years when I've had questions of a technical nature related to the races I produce. His position in this sport and his credibility, in my opinion, are well established. The woman in question I have never heard of. Perhaps we run in different circles (no pun intended), but I've been producing races for 20+ years so I know/know of a few people.
I will still assert that there is a difference between being an official finisher of a race and stating that something did or did not happen. In Dave's case, relative to Boston, there are some inconsistencies. He doesn't show up in the results on Marathon Guide, which is considered a very credible source and going back to about 2000 would appear to have the most complete finisher database for all marathons in the US. On the other hand, you are correct that the Boston website shows his consecutive streak at 41 years going into 2013. It's been published that he did not run in 2013 for obvious reasons.
On his Bio on the DMSE site it states that he "...has run the marathon each year since 1973. For 16 years he ran it with all the other runners and since he began working with the race in 1988 he has run the course afterwards." To me, that's an appropriate way to phrase what he does. I have also talked with some people who have run with him when he does the course, although that was years ago. Like I said in my initial post, I think it's been well documented that what he does is legit. With Parvaneh it sounds like there is a question as to when she actually ran the course, and a question about who could verify her claim. Perhaps there isn't, perhaps a bunch of people saw her running from the start to the finish. If that's the case, then it seems weird to me that we're approaching 3 pages on this thread.
You want to keep playing this game or can we agree to disagree?
Have you actually contacted the two people who would know if they ran the race?
Never got an answer from the RD.
San Antonioan wrote:
I petitioned the RD to DQ her. Hopefully, I'll get a response this morning.
Hey, since you said she never ran at her own race; I'd also heard from others at some of her events about runners listed as finishers that no one ever saw run either!
I'm with you...Guinness needs to hear about ANY improprieties...
I've heard if someone cheats, they will lie, if they lie they will steal...what else???
RIGHT ON!!! Cheaters have no place in athletics, business, records, academics, or anything else, in this country. Cheating IS stealing...
I guess the old saying "fake it if you can't make it..." applies...
I've also been hearing about some of this from other runners for some time...where there's smoke there's fire...and this sounds like a forest fire!!! After all, how can this many different runners all have similar observations and information??? I say go for it...tell all...nothing like the truth. (Oh, yeah, right, someone named Armstrong learned a hard lesson in cheating, faking, fraud, and how the truth comes out)!!!
San Antonioan wrote:
Never got an answer from the RD.
San Antonioan wrote:I petitioned the RD to DQ her. Hopefully, I'll get a response this morning.
Who did you contact? She was the race director and I don't think she'll DQ herself.
I really encourage anyone who has any information to contact KENS5 in San Antonio and Guinness World Records. I know KENS5 is investigating and Guinness should as well.
So larry Macon is knee deep in this inflating marathon numbers mess as well. Shame on him.
Was the Elks Marathon actually a race or some type of fun run/training run? I saw it had 12 finishers with the "winner" doing a 3:53. To play devil's advocate, could someone have used Larry's number to avoid paying an entry fee? Maybe he was signed up and decided to do the Utah race instead that was mentioned and someone used his number.
Cheating at running is its own punishment. Students cheat, adults cheat--why not runners?
Sleuther.. wrote:
Was the Elks Marathon actually a race or some type of fun run/training run?
I think Richard Rodriguez is the race director.
The marathon was the I Ran Marathons Flag Day Marathon, it was combined with the Elks Flag Day 5K. You can view the results here:
Parvaneh Moayedi is the race director.
Basically, the Elks were responsible for the 5K portion. Parvaneh was responsible for the 10K/Half-Marathon/Marathon portion.
It's about time everyone who knows anything about any cheating, faking, and/or fraud regarding these iran races needs to come out and tell ALL!!! That's the only way a cheater gets away with it is by hoping no one says anything. I suppose those who may know something irregular may have thought they were the only ones and no one would believe just one person speaking out...but from just the few on this forum, it seems like EVERYONE knows something (even if everyone doesn't know everything). I also have been made aware of cheating, making false claims, and listing runners that no one ever saw on the course! So I think those on this forum are just the tip of the iceberg!!! And remember, an iceberg sank the Titanic!!!
This whole scenario is bizarre to me. Can any of the san antonio posters enlighten us as to what the heck the i ran marathons thing is. They appear to be very frequent races, often marathon distance, geared toward the very slow runner. It looks almost like taking the weekend gallowalker program and having it be a "race" every weekend with most people doing 5-7 hr marathons.
Unlike the plethora of other marathon cheating incidents (which are rampant), this alleged one involves volume of races of very slow runners, not finishing times. Really odd.
The I Ran Marathons "races" are organized by one person to benefit one person, Parvaneh Moayedi. She already has two world records for the numbers of marathons completed and is trying to get to 1,000 marathons.
There have been rumors and allegations that she is faking the results for not only herself, but Larry Macon (another world record holder) as well.
The one thing I know for a fact: On June 14th, she recorded a marathon that she did not run in. She also recorded a marathon for Larry Macon who was in Utah at the time.
Thanks for info. I get it. There appears to be a race almost every day of the year and options for a 'virtual race' where you run on your own and call it a race. most if not all these events seem to be on the same out and back trail loop with early start options. Likely on the honor system in terms of your loop counting (was that 5 laps or 6?) To me it looks like you go for a run and it's called officially a race if you pay a fee. Interesting.
How many times do you have to be told that they ran the course after the official race was over. Other RDs do this as well.Take your petty jealously elsewhere.
Concerned San Antonian wrote:
The I Ran Marathons "races" are organized by one person to benefit one person, Parvaneh Moayedi. She already has two world records for the numbers of marathons completed and is trying to get to 1,000 marathons.
There have been rumors and allegations that she is faking the results for not only herself, but Larry Macon (another world record holder) as well.
The one thing I know for a fact: On June 14th, she recorded a marathon that she did not run in. She also recorded a marathon for Larry Macon who was in Utah at the time.
Get it through your head. Her website specifically states that a "virtual" option is not available for the marathons and ultra-marathons. In other words, you have to be present and running in the actual marathon in order to get credit.