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

Rojo, this screen shot should make it easy to find FM.

Like I said, he appears to comfortably hold his own.

https://imgur.com/a/UHjfYUZ

On Saturday morning, Frank addressed the Loyola HS Track Team at practice. Frank denied that he cut any courses and told the team that he would prove himself at Chicago – reiterating a statement that he made to Canadian Running Magazine

If this is true, it wouldn't perhaps matter as much that he told two stories as that he went to the kids to lie to them?

What staff members enabled him to communicate with the kids?

ExpertKipWatcher wrote:

RossiCheated wrote:

So, why start a race four+ minutes late, behind everybody?

Kip may not have invented this but it was his M.O. every time for the obvious reasons.

Off course Oscar explained it very well in the Kip thread, look it up.

And...why can't some of you posters figure out the obvious?? He can't run with the runners who are actually running 6:40 pace so he doesn't want to be seen by them as he could not last very long...hence he starts in the back of the pack. Come on guys, not that tough.

He gets to a mat, crosses it and then gets off the course, very easy to do and that's what he did. Some of you saying that's what YOU believe is hilarious to a whole different level.

A Saturday meeting with a HS Track team doesn't match with the idea the Loyala has "scrubbed" everything about FM from their public media.

What's happening here?

Surprised, surprised! wrote:

https://www.marathoninvestigation.com/2019/06/meza-addresses-team-coaches-as-disqualification-looms.html?fbclid=IwAR3Dln-y_AV6dpGYV9H3DhkoVB6zuUepLCF1b1kQEmn7qNEbKKfk2XywBII

"He told coaches that he was diagnosed with a heart condition and that his running days may be over."

Well, we knew this was coming. They should DQ all of his previous marathons.

If someone can run a 2:20 marathon, there is bound to be a record of it.

The end result of a lifetime of healthy living, including proper diet, rest and stress free....is a family doctor whose job is to diagnose and teach prevention...to himself at 70 find a previously undiagnosed heart condition, just when he needs an excuse to not run competitively... (or at all? - I thought mild excersize helped a heart). This seeming lie, (especially correlating it to not running anymore) is a disservice to the community. Scaring people from running, or doing any exercise which would benefit them would be a tragic way for this mess to end. Just to protect Frank Meza’s pride and reputation? Frank Meza should not get away with that. Frank Meza, you show up in Chicago...you made a promise to those kids.....keep it.

Swerving Line wrote:

ExpertKipWatcher wrote:

Kip may not have invented this but it was his M.O. every time for the obvious reasons.

Off course Oscar explained it very well in the Kip thread, look it up.

And...why can't some of you posters figure out the obvious?? He can't run with the runners who are actually running 6:40 pace so he doesn't want to be seen by them as he could not last very long...hence he starts in the back of the pack. Come on guys, not that tough.

He gets to a mat, crosses it and then gets off the course, very easy to do and that's what he did. Some of you saying that's what YOU believe is hilarious to a whole different level.

No. No. No.

It must be way more complicated than that with accomplices and outfit changes, etc,

Too much time on my hands.... wrote:

I point out #10405, because if you go to his gallery of photos at

https://freephotos.finisherpix.com/gallery/2019mesaphx/10405/1

You’ll note Frank appears in some of the photos. It would therefore stand to reason, I believe, that Frank would have appeared somewhere in the two contact sheets listed above.

Frank and #10405 are in the same exact stride position in that photo. Look at the difference in trail leg position. The other guy is blowing by Frank here. And keep in mind that with his usual late start and numerous "potty stops" it should be the other way round. A pretty clear picture of a cheater in action.

fisky wrote:

I've watched the video. It's hard to tell because of the foreshortening effect of the lens, but Frank appears to hold pace with green top/red short guy, but they both get passed by other runners. Frank appears to lose about 11 seconds to a guy in black who is clearly behind him when Frank can first be seen and is 11 seconds ahead when he crosses the white line in the foreground of the video.

So Frank is running somewhere between 6:35 - 6:55 pace for 3 minutes in this video. That's very good for a 70-year-old, but it's only 3 minutes... and it's last year... and it's a bit downhill.

Here's some 70-year-old perspective. Last year, Gene Dykes won the USATF Masters 5k Championships in 19:27. 2nd place was about a minute slower.

The other difficulty in comparing Frank's pace during that three-minute stretch with that of other runners is that he is running much further to the left-hand side of the street (from the runners' perspective, not the viewers') when he appears on the screen. I agree, though, that he seems to keep pretty close to the green top/red short guy (I'm color-blind, but I'll take your word for the colors of his clothing), while seeming to lose significant time relative to a number of others with similar finishing times.

I'm still leery of any challenge that could muddy the waters or give the LA marathon or others another excuse to delay or avoid the decision on disqualification. I'm pretty sure that I've never seen anything close to the amount of evidence that has been assembled in this case -- and I'm old enough to remember, very well, the Boston performances of Oscar Miranda in 1979 and Rosie Ruiz in 1980. (Admittedly, the offer of a six-figure donation to his favorite charity for a very modest time-trial performance has a certain appeal, but I would expect to hear some very creative excuses for his inability to meet the challenge, and I'm not sure that anything short of an unambiguous confession would sway his supporters.) If I were going to offer a challenge, I might be inclined to do so only after the LA marathon has issued a decision on disqualification, which seems long overdue.

The Doctor who co-wrote the book Younger Next Year, and if I remember properly, specifically stated in the book that no men need to die of prostrate cancer, died young of prostrate cancer.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/14/books/henry-lodge-dead-co-author-younger-next-year.html

LA will issue its decision this week. Lifetime ban is certain. DQ for all LAM’s likely.

The LA Marathon should just DQ FM to stop him from digging himself deeper. Sometimes addicts need to be saved from themselves.

Just and aside. wrote:

The Doctor who co-wrote the book Younger Next Year, and if I remember properly, specifically stated in the book that no men need to die of prostrate cancer, died young of prostrate cancer.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/14/books/henry-lodge-dead-co-author-younger-next-year.html

I'll read this later. Point taken, I think. After all, I never found it funny what happened to Jim Fixx (The Complete Book Of Running). I found it to be a lesson. Perhaps though, Frank Meza only self-diagnosed this heart condition, without conducting the suggested tests...or better yet, getting a second opinion. Seriously, would FM have usually had some warning signs...that he would be in a unique position to notice.

doubler has a snitch on the Loyola coaching staff? nice!

LoLoyla wrote:

doubler has a snitch on the Loyola coaching staff? nice!

It would be hard to believe that none of them can evaluate overwhelming evidence.

ExpertKipWatcher wrote:

LoLoyla wrote:

doubler has a snitch on the Loyola coaching staff? nice!

It would be hard to believe that none of them can evaluate overwhelming evidence.

Loyola is probably the pre-eminent secondary school in the greater Los Angeles area. It is full of bright kids, teachers, administrators, and parents/guardians. As more and more members of the Loyola HS community become aware of the overwhelming evidence of Meza's cheating and subsequent mendacity, I am confident that more will do the right thing and speak out (a la kegboy).

It is troubling that that Lalo Diaz and the Loyola HS administration allowed Meza to speak to the XC team and deny the accusations. The kids should not be asked to believe an obvious liar.

Sounds like coaches are running the school - like Penn State.

Give bright kids a chance to read the new MI article and they’ll know the score real quick.

I'm guessing he's a big donor to the XC and track programs. Separating themselves from him might mean his annual contributions go away.

Loyola payola?