This is not the stride or the body of a senior 2:53 marathoner. It doesn’t matter if he’s wearing Vibrams.
This is not the stride or the body of a senior 2:53 marathoner. It doesn’t matter if he’s wearing Vibrams.
Just sayin'. wrote:
Iowa800 wrote:
https://www.finisherpix.com/gallery/photos/en/usd/3017/1151Also, 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 looked at this photo of 5 to 6 hour marathoners. I don’t see any resemblance to other pics from the half marathon, but maybe I’m missing something. The guy in the lead of that pic is from Illinois.
Iowa800 wrote:
https://www.finisherpix.com/gallery/photos/en/usd/3017/1151....
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.
....
In the 2019 LA Marathon he has photos in the same locations as most other runners. It looks like photos at: 10k mat (3017_046277); ~12 miles (3017_221489); 25k mat (3017_246511-5) and finish. There are different photos of him on other runners’ pic pages (bib 1108 for example).
You can look at a course map in link below to see the buses/cabs he would need to take to meet up with the photographers:
https://www.lamarathon.com/event-info/the-course/course-mapMark’s Thoughts2 wrote:
In the 2019 LA Marathon he has photos in the same locations as most other runners. It looks like photos at: 10k mat (3017_046277); ~12 miles (3017_221489); 25k mat (3017_246511-5) and finish. There are different photos of him on other runners’ pic pages (bib 1108 for example).
You can look at a course map in link below to see the buses/cabs he would need to take to meet up with the photographers:
That's it then, innocent just as I thought.
Also, wearing his number on the side means he's not getting picked up by the scanning technology of FinisherPix.
Mark’s Thoughts2 wrote:
Iowa800 wrote:
https://www.finisherpix.com/gallery/photos/en/usd/3017/1151....
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.
....
There are different photos of him on other runners’ pic pages (bib 1108 for example).
yep
eight of them with 1108
all in the same place
Why would somebody wear their bib number on the side? I'm not sure if that's even legal. Part of the point of a bib number is to make a runner visually identifiable. After all, if it was just about the chip crossing the timing mats, you wouldn't need different race numbers for each individual. Wearing them on the side seems really sketchy. As some have mentioned, the use of "bib belts" in general seems questionable. I'm guessing they were invented for triathletes or something like that, where it might make sense (I've never done one, so I'm not sure). When I googled "bib number belts", the site that was selling them touted them as a great antidote for all those running clothes that get ruined by having safety pins shoved through them...Yeah, now that's a major problem that really needed to be addressed. I've been running races for 30+ years and can honestly say that I've never even noticed the slightest damage to a piece of clothing from a safety pin.
coming up to and at the finish the bib seems to have worked it way towards the front
Maybe somebody already pointed this out, but in the first of those photos you linked to, he doesn't have his race number on at all. I don't even see any sign of his bib belt, even when I zoom in on the picture. Then in the later pictures his race number appears, looking a little worse for wear and tear.
Golgi Body wrote:
Maybe somebody already pointed this out, but in the first of those photos you linked to, he doesn't have his race number on at all. I don't even see any sign of his bib belt, even when I zoom in on the picture. Then in the later pictures his race number appears, looking a little worse for wear and tear.
In that picture, I can’t see it either, but I think I see it hanging off his right side in the next photo in the series (which isn’t listed on his main photo page):
http://fp-zoom-us.s3.amazonaws.com/3017/3017_221489.JPGhe seems to be moving pretty good, why would he be doing that with no bib on...assuming someone else is running with his bib/chip. The bib is probably just off to his right side, where he seems to like to have it. It would bug me having a bib right over my privates, I would keep it off to the side. Truthfully, I am still inclined to need more proof than I or anyone else has been able to find. (which is none) He finished 3rd in the 2017 Santa Clarita Marathon. (3:01) Hard to cheat 3rd place and not get caught, especially when you are 69 years old. Does he look capable of running 3:01, but not 2:53? Is he only cheating a few minutes? Let the directors at Long Beach Marathon know that their is going to be a world record attempt by Frank this year. Maybe they can promote it. Find someone to do a youtube documentary on it. Let the truth come out, one way or the other.
Mark’s Thoughts2 wrote:
Golgi Body wrote:
Maybe somebody already pointed this out, but in the first of those photos you linked to, he doesn't have his race number on at all. I don't even see any sign of his bib belt, even when I zoom in on the picture. Then in the later pictures his race number appears, looking a little worse for wear and tear.
In that picture, I can’t see it either, but I think I see it hanging off his right side in the next photo in the series (which isn’t listed on his main photo page):
http://fp-zoom-us.s3.amazonaws.com/3017/3017_221489.JPG
Those are not the legs of a 2:53 marathoner. Not much vascular or muscular definition. At a bare minimum a 2:53 marathoner of this age is running 50 mpw. It doesn’t show in his legs. A 2:53 marathoner has impressive legs. A world record holder would have amazing ones. The lack of muscular and vascular definition point to a higher body fat percentage, thus a weight penalty preventing FM from running 2:54 given his age and all other factors.
Dude's also got some moobs going on in some of those photos...
,
Roderick - I see you've switched sides yet again. It's like you're playing some kind of odd game of Devil's Advocate.
Santa Clarita Marathon 2017 results are interesting. In a race with 243 finishers, Meza took 1:49 just to cross the starting line! With a couple of hundred participants, you can't even say he started "back in the pack". Everybody would have been long gone before 1:49 had passed. So that's some more sketchy behavior. Most of the top finishers in the race have basically identical chip times and clock times. Though the guy one place behind him, Fernando Navarro of Los Angeles, also took a surprisingly long 35 seconds to cross the start, but finished in 3:01:29. I recall he (Navarro) also finished close to Meza in one of the LA Marathons mentioned earlier - he ran like 2:54 to Meza's 2:53, or something like that. Interesting that these 2 older guys both improved about 8 minutes from Santa Clarita to Los Angeles. Could he be an accomplice? Do you know that name, Roderick? I certainly don't want to sound like I'm accusing him - could be coincidence.
Going back to your comments about how it's understandable that Meza would want to wear a bib to the side, I'm calling B.S. on that. Who cares if a bib number covers your privates? And if you do care, pin it on your freaking shirt! As mentioned earlier, bib #'s are supposed to be kept visible so you can be identified.
Golgi Body wrote:
Then in the later pictures his race number appears, looking a little worse for wear and tear.
Yep the only person in the race with a number that looks like it's been through the washing machine, just more sketchy mysterious unexplained weird odd shenanigans.
Golgi Body wrote:
Santa Clarita Marathon 2017 results are interesting. In a race with 243 finishers, Meza took 1:49 just to cross the starting line!
More sketchy mysterious unexplained weird odd shenanigans, the sort of thing that all the previous outed cheaters on LR seem to have.
Golgi Body wrote:
Why would somebody wear their bib number on the side? I'm not sure if that's even legal. Part of the point of a bib number is to make a runner visually identifiable. After all, if it was just about the chip crossing the timing mats, you wouldn't need different race numbers for each individual. Wearing them on the side seems really sketchy. As some have mentioned, the use of "bib belts" in general seems questionable. I'm guessing they were invented for triathletes or something like that, where it might make sense (I've never done one, so I'm not sure). When I googled "bib number belts", the site that was selling them touted them as a great antidote for all those running clothes that get ruined by having safety pins shoved through them...Yeah, now that's a major problem that really needed to be addressed. I've been running races for 30+ years and can honestly say that I've never even noticed the slightest damage to a piece of clothing from a safety pin.
Well, as you can see in the photos from the Pasadena Half Marathon, these belts make it really easy to remove a bib with a single Fastex buckle and transfer to another runner. It would also make the bib really easy to hide underneath clothing, if one wanted to cross a chip mat, but didn't want to be seen on camera with it.
Long Beach 2014 was a much bigger marathon, with 2777 finishers. Still, Frank was 30th overall. The winner's official start time was 5:59:46. The guy who finished one spot ahead of Frank had a start time one second behind the overall winner; the guy finishing one place behind Frank had a start time of 5:59:58, so 12s behind the overall winner. Frank's start time is 6:01:52--more than two minutes behind the overall winner and the guys who finished on either side of him. He crossed the start line around the 4-hour marathoners, people running 2:00+ minutes/mile slower than him. He did negative split his halves (1:31:21/1:29:33) and hit 5k in 21:52, a little slow for his 6:54 average pace. So maybe he started that far back to make sure he didn't go out too quickly? Seems weird.
Golgi Body wrote:
Roderick - I see you've switched sides yet again. It's like you're playing some kind of odd game of Devil's Advocate.
Santa Clarita Marathon 2017 results are interesting. In a race with 243 finishers, Meza took 1:49 just to cross the starting line! With a couple of hundred participants, you can't even say he started "back in the pack". Everybody would have been long gone before 1:49 had passed. So that's some more sketchy behavior.
Golgi Body wrote:
Santa Clarita Marathon 2017 results are interesting. In a race with 243 finishers, Meza took 1:49 just to cross the starting line! With a couple of hundred participants, you can't even say he started "back in the pack". Everybody would have been long gone before 1:49 had passed. So that's some more sketchy behavior.
I don’t know much about that Marathon, but it looks like over 2,100 people started the 5k and Half Marathon at the same time. Maybe he has an aversion to being knock over and trampled.
Moobs.... wrote:
Dude's also got some moobs going on in some of those photos...
,
I would not say that Meza is overweight, but a septuagenarian guy running times approached only by Ed Whitlock and Gene Dykes would presumably be crazy thin. (I believe Dykes has indicated that he would like to lose a couple more pounds, but is about as low as he can go.)
I believe 2:53:10 for a 70 year old is age-graded to sub 2:10. (Someone correct me if I am wrong.) If Meza was for real, lost 10 pounds and wore 4%s, what would his time be?
Like others have said, the photos from Pasadena showing that he lost two minutes (in the last mile) on the only guys he was photographed with on the course are pretty damning.
