I'm Done. The Mezra death brought home how cycincal and damaging this website it to real people

Not an official obituary but probably contains most of what an official obituary would contain:

https://www.theeastsiderla.com/neighborhoods/east_los_angeles/frank-meza-a-tragic-ending-overshadows-a-doctor-s-life/article_d380398e-aab7-11e9-968e-177359a8410e.html

Do you believe that it being a game or a test is what really happened? If not, it would have been a lie.

Thanks. I guess he just changed as he got older, and that’s a shame.

Sunlite wrote:

HEC wrote:

Do you have some special insight that has not yet been shared by MI?

I know I couldn't go on investigating cheaters this happened to me. Knowing that what I did in some part led to the death of another person.

And before the trolls jump on board with the "if he didn't cheat none of this would have happened" BS, he apparent;y had been cheating for 10+ years and didn't commit suicide until it was exposed locally and then nationally.

I agree. I think Derek will close the site.

Hard to imagine investigating other people with what just happened.

MI supporter wrote:

Sunlite wrote:

I know I couldn't go on investigating cheaters this happened to me. Knowing that what I did in some part led to the death of another person.

And before the trolls jump on board with the "if he didn't cheat none of this would have happened" BS, he apparent;y had been cheating for 10+ years and didn't commit suicide until it was exposed locally and then nationally.

I agree. I think Derek will close the site.

Hard to imagine investigating other people with what just happened.

That is a pretty broken view of the world.

MI impossible wrote:

That is a pretty broken view of the world.

I have learned a few counterintuitive things in this thread.

Someone cheats over a long period of time and after his death, people on this forum retrospectively cause him to cheat.

People who cheat, lie, break the law etc should never be exposed or be made accountable for it because it could tip them over the edge.

People who expose the activity are in some way worse than the offender.

The world really is on its way to making the novel 1984 seem like a non-fiction work.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

Moonlite wrote:

No, it wasn't Letsrun, it was the National Media.

Someone disagreeing with you doesn't make them a troll. If you want to use that type of thinking, you must be a troll.

Frank Meza had an easy way out to say that it was all a game or a test to see how long he could do it without getting caught. Like you, Frank didn't think of using that easy way out.

Yes, I think you are a troll.

Do you believe that it being a game or a test is what really happened? If not, it would have been a lie.

You're missing the point. No I don't believe it was a game or a test, but I believe he could have somewhat saved face and not have taken his own life. His times would have been wiped clean and his life goes on. Think it thru, it's really not that difficult to realize.

Meza reminds me of people who are convicted of shoplifting things they could easily afford to buy.

ExpertKipWatcher wrote:

MI impossible wrote:

That is a pretty broken view of the world.

I have learned a few counterintuitive things in this thread.

Someone cheats over a long period of time and after his death, people on this forum retrospectively cause him to cheat.

People who cheat, lie, break the law etc should never be exposed or be made accountable for it because it could tip them over the edge.

People who expose the activity are in some way worse than the offender.

The world really is on its way to making the novel 1984 seem like a non-fiction work.

This is a whiny misinterpretation.

Moonlite wrote:

SDSU Aztec wrote:

Do you believe that it being a game or a test is what really happened? If not, it would have been a lie.

You're missing the point. No I don't believe it was a game or a test, but I believe he could have somewhat saved face and not have taken his own life. His times would have been wiped clean and his life goes on. Think it thru, it's really not that difficult to realize.

There is no point to think through; it would have been a lie. You admitted it would have been a lie, so why do you think anyone else would believe it?

Cheating for 10+ years, pushing people back a place and setting a world best age group record was a game?

If I was a RD and he approached me, said he had cheated and explained how he did it, I would have banned him. And unless I wanted to put an additional 30 or so volunteers on the course to watch for people like him, it would have been useless information.

MI supporter wrote:

Sunlite wrote:

I know I couldn't go on investigating cheaters this happened to me. Knowing that what I did in some part led to the death of another person.

And before the trolls jump on board with the "if he didn't cheat none of this would have happened" BS, he apparent;y had been cheating for 10+ years and didn't commit suicide until it was exposed locally and then nationally.

I agree. I think Derek will close the site.

Hard to imagine investigating other people with what just happened.

Derek did absolutely nothing wrong. The Meza story and similar stories are why his site exists. I read the articles; they were based on publicly available photographs and split information. There was no malicious intent.

Investigating reporting has existed for a long time and Meza's story is of the type that will draw a lot of attention. If Meza read about Jane Seo, he would have been aware of the consequences from getting caught, but maybe his obsession to cheat was just too strong.

I don't recall anyone calling for Derek to shut down MI over Seo, but it was pretty much the same thing. All we know about the aftermath for her is that she didn't commit suicide, she no longer writes for HuffPost and she was kicked out off her running club, but it also severely damaged her reputation and considering that most news outlets value integrity, it probably ended any career in journalism. Maybe she was able shake it off, maybe not.

What happened to Meza was tragic and the punishment in the form of public humiliation was far too severe for what he did. However, he did cheat in an extreme manner for several years and should have been aware of what might happen were he to be caught.

jesseriley wrote:

Meza reminds me of people who are convicted of shoplifting things they could easily afford to buy.

exactly. pretty much harmless.

jesseriley wrote:

Meza reminds me of people who are convicted of shoplifting things they could easily afford to buy.

Not Quite. That would imply that Meza was actually capable of running the (fraudulent) times he posted via cheating. He wasn't. Not even close.

ExpertKipWatcher wrote:

MI impossible wrote:

That is a pretty broken view of the world.

I have learned a few counterintuitive things in this thread.

Someone cheats over a long period of time and after his death, people on this forum retrospectively cause him to cheat.

People who cheat, lie, break the law etc should never be exposed or be made accountable for it because it could tip them over the edge.

People who expose the activity are in some way worse than the offender.

The world really is on its way to making the novel 1984 seem like a non-fiction work.

You can do better, Rich.

Actually shoplifting is a huge problem for the shop owner, mainly for security & such to prevent crooks from taking all the stock instead of just some of it.

My point is some people seem to think their lives just aren’t exciting enough, and they get into trouble or become addicts in their free time. Ironically (in Meza’s case) exercise would be an excellent treatment for such people.

Hand It Over, Hand It Over wrote:

jesseriley wrote:

Meza reminds me of people who are convicted of shoplifting things they could easily afford to buy.

Not Quite. That would imply that Meza was actually capable of running the (fraudulent) times he posted via cheating. He wasn't. Not even close.

Yes, reminds me of the shoplifter who said he just shopped for fun and then a security camera caught him in the act. The twist is he wasn't just shoplifting cheep items, it was the most expensive thing in the store. Then when the video surfaced in the press of him shoplifting he committed suicide. Finally, his wife blamed the security camera for causing his death.

Raddison wrote:

Not an official obituary but probably contains most of what an official obituary would contain:

https://www.theeastsiderla.com/neighborhoods/east_los_angeles/frank-meza-a-tragic-ending-overshadows-a-doctor-s-life/article_d380398e-aab7-11e9-968e-177359a8410e.html

Meza's wife is frequently quoted. And deluded. She seems very much in denial.

The article doesn't consult anyone for a differing view.

She and the reporter suggest Frank's death is "apparent" suicide. And offer an inventful narrative that his DQ from the LA Marathon is an isolated misunderstanding; that Meza legitimately ran the full distance, in record-setting time, and his result was struck on a technicality.

No mention of Frank's other marathon DQs. No mention of irrefutable statistical evidence. No mention of lack of third-party or fitness corroboration commonly supporting such notable efforts. No mention of utter improbability of lengthy off-course bathroom stops, or sidewalk stretching, or full stops atop timing mats... and while en route to record-setting attempts and results. Or an attempt to explain why Frank rides a bike during a marathon race.

The article simply apes the wife's position. Meza "succumbed to online harassment".

Being outed as a longtime, intentional cheat was a catalyst event in Meza's suicide.

But would a sane or reasonable person have hurled themselves off a bridge as a result of being caught? Would a sane and reasonable person of his stature and position have cheated as he did? But yet he did...

It's dishonest to characterize a fair and necessary process of exposing a spectacularly ignominious cheat as "online harassment".

It would be unfortunate if Marathon Investigation closed up. That would mean succumbing to the real online bullies here; Frank's family and sympathizers, who would have us believe down is up and wrong is right.

If MI shutters, the effect of Frank's grossly unbalanced actions would be to imbue impunity to other cheats.

Whether it was an intended consequence or not, by committing suicide Frank found a way to control the narrative from beyond the grave. His repeated, long-term cheating is an irrefutable fact supported by mounds of documentary, photographic, and video evidence, yet in every mainstream news article that cheating is "alleged," "supposed," or it's an "accusation," and Frank is painted as a sort of martyr who was cheated out of his rightful achievements by some amorphous online mob. Most of those msm articles are spectacularly unbalanced and lacking in basic research, and anyone without a background in running who reads them would be led to believe Frank was a world-class age grouper unjustly hounded to his demise.

I didn't think he was married. Guess he didn't wear a wedding band. None of his pictures, either professional or running, show him wearing a ring.