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

He was running about 11;00 pace at 50 miles, and in 23rd place. At 70 miles he was in 18th place. Amazing mental toughness. He is no fake, on this thread...or out running races...or the genuine person he is..almost 300 laps and counting....wow!!!

327 laps, 81 miles, 16.5 miles completed, 17th place, finish 7am est

16.5 hours completed, live right now...and it is raining at the track

He closed a marathon with an 18:30 5k??? At 70 years old? Suspicious as hell. How many 70 year olds can race one 5k at 18:30?

DougC wrote:

He closed a marathon with an 18:30 5k??? At 70 years old? Suspicious as hell. How many 70 year olds can race one 5k at 18:30?

It is questionable, but it was at 66 years old. At that age the world’s best marathon averages ~19:18 for each 5k (8+ in a row).

19.5 hours in 93 plus miles for Gene Dykes at 24 hour run...good shot at beating the 100 mile national record 70-74 of 21:54:04 heavy rain for some time now...live feed posted above if anyone likes slow but interesting human drama. Not for everyone...

Put in on about a half hour ago. Unfortunately, the lens is wet, so you can't see anything.

The updates have stopped so I think Gene ran 111 miles (I say I think because that is what I remember) which is about a mile farther than Jeff Hagen's American record.

Somehow I don’t think Meza will be doing any track races with lots of witnesses.

111.59 laps, it looks like. Should be a new 100 mile US record and 24 hour US record for 70-74. 111.59 equals 186652 meters. The old record was/is 177...

ATTITE, STRIDE, BODY TYPE

It’s beyond obvious he’s cheated. Not sure if it’s been mentioned but look at his clothes in the LAM race pics. He’s wearing a baggy blue shirt under a half zip. He’s Rosie Ruiz. Nobody under 4 hours will be wearing a half zip and a blue technical top during the entire marathon under decent conditions. IF THEY DID, BOTH WOULD BE DRIPPING WET! He’s wearing this early in the race at Madame Taussad’s in Hollywood and would have sweated through the shirt within a few miles. The same could be said for the black hat. It would be encrusted with sweat by the end.

His stride in the pics is not that of someone who can run 26.2 @ 6:36 pace. Any good collegiate coach could look at his mechanics and explain why he’s slow. If you look at succession of pics with the cones, wheelchair athlete, and one other runner, he’s being left in the dust by the runner within a few seconds!

His body type isn’t capable. His ankle to calf to waist to chest ratio is disproportionate to that of near world record holder. He looks 20 lbs heavier than someone of that echelon would be expected to be.

LAM is so easy for someone to cheat on. There are vast stretches of places where there are no onlookers. Nobody is going to say something if a random guy jumps in during the middle of a race. I’ve paced two friends to a 2:58 and 2:52 on the back half of LAM. Like other runners have pointed out he’s near the front end of these races and there are a gazillion photos of sub 3 hour runners but few photos of him. LA is a hobby jogger hub and if an old dude is out there killing it, the photographers would snap it up.

It seems like this guy is getting better with gaming the timing mats because he actually understands them. So his bib isn’t visible for obvious reasons. However,he forgot to account for his running attire and that’s the smoking gun.

Roderick - I think you might want to start a new thread for the continuous update of Gene Dykes' progress in his 24-hr race. This thread is about "A-Meza-ing" Frank Meza.

Iowa800 - good points. I don't know if I'd call the attire a "smoking gun", given that people will argue all day with you over that, but it is good circumstantial evidence. If you Google images of Ed Whitlock or Gene Dykes (the 2 age 70+ record-setters that I've heard of), they're always in singlet and running shorts. They look like guys who showed up to race, whereas Meza looks more like someone who wants to grind out a few miles and sweat off a couple of pounds.

Iowa800 wrote:

https://www.finisherpix.com/gallery/photos/en/usd/3017/1151

When you look at those photos it's beyond obvious that Dr Meza didn't run 2:53 for all those reasons you've mention.

Also, look at photo 3017-563205 that looks like the same grouping that featured with the good doctor in the half featured above (so plenty there for the LR sleuths and seekers of truth to follow up), AND, they're all wearing easily concealable bib belts, including the good doc.

I think this thread may have put an end to his running, which goes back a long way, so fairly sad really:

Golgi Body wrote:

I don't know if I'd call the attire a "smoking gun",

It is, along with all the other points.

This is Roderick (JamesD1 on iPhone). You are right, I should have. But Gene is obviously relevant on this thread..as the real deal (like Ed Whitlock). The clothes, Franks look, everything adds up to not believing his times..and yet, no one has proven his cheating or not cheating..believe me I have tried to prove both, to get an answer once and for all. We need to just go to his next marathon (probably Long Beach in October. I’ll be there to run the half. Can watch the start..6:00. I’d have to run sub 1:25 to see a 2:55. That will not happen, unless I suddenly improve more than 7 or 8 minutes..

A search for 'Meza' shows son Francisco was entered but didn't run, so dunno what's going on there, just another part of the mystery.

http://results2.xacte.com/#/e/2232/searchable

Iowa800 wrote:

there are a gazillion photos of sub 3 hour runners but few photos of him.

Check out the number of photos, attire, etc of Bib: 18573 Race Time: 02:53:15 Female 33yo who finished six seconds behind him:

And Bib: 1083 Race Time: 02:52:37 Male 41yo who finished 32 seconds ahead:

Hi, this is Roderick. You need to find similar gun times. I did try this..good luck...see, Frank starts way further back than most sub 3’s. Tho I saw a lot of su 3’s start way back..

The Long Beach Marathon in Oct 2019 starts at 6:00am...maybe run it. Find Frank and just run with him..end of mystery. Be prepared to dodge a few runners, as Frank likes to start back a bit.