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

deadesq I'd buy you a drink if I could. Great work!

Really I only check in now to see if LAM has issued a DQ.

As more days go by, I'm becoming more pessimistic and fear we'll be seeing memes of Frank chowing down on a Brazier burger and a Blizzard as the only DQ.

Took me a while v2 wrote:

Finally some real explanations to this whole fiasco.

Holy crap, guys! In the 2019 LAM photographs on Derek's site you can actually SEE the lanyard around his neck. Frank doesn't appear in many photos because he ASKS photographers not to take his picture and they RESPECT HIS WISHES.

My mind is blown right now!

Took me a while v2 wrote:

Not joking. You can call him a cheat. That's your perogative. But you're relying on the word of MI and lack of positive evidence to do so.

Please try doing what you said you would and run the next marathon to emulate Frank. Run the same time. Hit all the timing mats. Never get photographed taking an alternate means of transportation. Then do that at a dozen other marathons that aren't local to you and you have no idea where the mats or cameras are. And still never get caught obviously cheating.

And then I'll concede Frank could plausibly have cheated.

I LOVE this thing about "Never get photographed taking an alternate means of transportation." Do you think that there are tons of photographers walking the blocks not on, but nearby marathon courses, randomly photographing seemingly random people using various modes of transportation? The whole notion that such photos should exist is hilarious.

Good job!

FM took the photographs.

Tee Hee wrote:

The whole notion that such photos should exist is hilarious.

Good job!

Much like the notion that we're expected to believe he cheated dozens of marathons with no evidence other than the lack of photos of him on a course (which has now been explained).

bored troller wrote:

deadesq I'd buy you a drink if I could. Great work!

Really I only check in now to see if LAM has issued a DQ.

As more days go by, I'm becoming more pessimistic and fear we'll be seeing memes of Frank chowing down on a Brazier burger and a Blizzard as the only DQ.

I really should just quit, because I think I've made my point rather clearly, but every day that goes by where Frank is still in the LAM 2019 results motivates me to do another contact sheet of photos. If Doubler, the LA Times or even the LA Marathon uses my work to aid examining the validity of Frank's run, either those done under my registered name or the ones I did as Too Much Time On My Hands, it will all have been worth it.

As for that drink, though....name a time and place. ;-)

deadesq wrote:

I really should just quit, because I think I've made my point rather clearly, but every day that goes by where Frank is still in the LAM 2019 results motivates me to do another contact sheet of photos. )

You should quit because you're contributing nothing and have frequently had to backtrack from your posts.

Maybe he is still in LAMs results because their internal investigation found his race was run accurately. Shocker. You don't have the level of information that they do. You cant make an informed judgment.

Took me a while v2 wrote:

Took me a while v2 wrote:

Finally some real explanations to this whole fiasco.

Holy crap, guys! In the 2019 LAM photographs on Derek's site you can actually SEE the lanyard around his neck. Frank doesn't appear in many photos because he ASKS photographers not to take his picture and they RESPECT HIS WISHES.

My mind is blown right now!

All LAM has to do is contact the photographers to see IF they saw the sign....case closed.

RI red wrote:

All LAM has to do is contact the photographers to see IF they saw the sign....case closed.

Which would be insanity as this was just invented by a troll who I think is not well.

RI red wrote:

All LAM has to do is contact the photographers to see IF they saw the sign....case closed.

Maybe they ALREADY HAVE and that is why he's not disqualified from the results! Oh my God it all makes sense now!

Took me a while v2 wrote:

deadesq wrote:

I really should just quit, because I think I've made my point rather clearly, but every day that goes by where Frank is still in the LAM 2019 results motivates me to do another contact sheet of photos. )

You should quit because you're contributing nothing and have frequently had to backtrack from your posts.

Maybe he is still in LAMs results because their internal investigation found his race was run accurately. Shocker. You don't have the level of information that they do. You cant make an informed judgment.

Note to self...don't feed the trolls. Don't feed the trolls.

Frequent backtracks...that's funny. You be you, boo.

Perhaps DDA Scott can reach out to young Frank and obtain the confession by proxy. And LAM can DQ so putting an end to this sorry saga. It must be painful for Meza to have the cuckoos of the internet underbelly, speaking up for him.

Took me a while v2 wrote:

Maybe he is still in LAMs results because their internal investigation found his race was run accurately.

That's gonna be the real killer - if LAM ultimately fails to disqualify Frank. It won't make this thread go away, but will give any credible news organization a pause before jumping on the bandwagon.

friends of frank wrote:

That's gonna be the real killer - if LAM ultimately fails to disqualify Frank. It won't make this thread go away, but will give any credible news organization a pause before jumping on the bandwagon.

You got it. LAM will not disqualify Frank. People here will moan for a while. We've effectively ruined someone's life with incomplete information. And we'll move on to do it to some other poor soul.

I suspect that one factor in LAM's delay in DQing FM is that this guy would move into 3rd in the 70-74 division:

https://www.finisherpix.com/gallery/photo/en/usd/3017/18692/3017_098961#3017_098961

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

This race seems like a kluster phuc on so many levels.

friends of frank wrote:

Took me a while v2 wrote:

Maybe he is still in LAMs results because their internal investigation found his race was run accurately.

That's gonna be the real killer - if LAM ultimately fails to disqualify Frank. It won't make this thread go away, but will give any credible news organization a pause before jumping on the bandwagon.

But he has already been outed as a serial cheat, by CIM leading to disqualifications (over and over) until a lifetime ban was imposed. The ambivalence of some other race organizations is moot.

This thread encapsulates the methodical unveiling of a great running fraud. LAM is not a factor.

Bib # 18692

It's supposed to be 70 yr old Robert Lautz. He's from Beverly, so maybe he's just had a lot of work done...

ROBERT LAUTZ

Marathon Open - M/70

BEVERLY HILLS, CA

4th place in 70-74 in a time of 4:14:53. No splits until 25k.

For the record . . . wrote:

I suspect that one factor in LAM's delay in DQing FM is that this guy would move into 3rd in the 70-74 division:

https://www.finisherpix.com/gallery/photo/en/usd/3017/18692/3017_098961#3017_098961http://results2.xacte.com/#/e/2232/placings

This race seems like a kluster phuc on so many levels.

To be clear, that would be the 70 something year old on the left of the pic that still looks like a spry 30 something.

Took me a while v2 wrote:

deadesq wrote:

I really should just quit, because I think I've made my point rather clearly, but every day that goes by where Frank is still in the LAM 2019 results motivates me to do another contact sheet of photos. )

You should quit because you're contributing nothing and have frequently had to backtrack from your posts.

Maybe he is still in LAMs results because their internal investigation found his race was run accurately. Shocker. You don't have the level of information that they do. You cant make an informed judgment.

Thanks for reminding me:

You keep on making him more and more infamous. I hope he really appreciates your efforts on making his cheating the #1 search topic when his name pops up. Keep up the good work!!