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

We’ll have to call him Doc Goober.

Looks like a legit 10k run..and Frank does not seem to stressed...and those do look like a strong runners legs and physique. Especially at 69 years old. Just sayin'

Roderick Powell wrote:

Looks like a legit 10k run..and Frank does not seem to stressed...and those do look like a strong runners legs and physique. Especially at 69 years old. Just sayin'

Roderick, I know you want to believe in Frank but stop reaching. A time in the Firecracker 10K does not make him legit. It would be more believable if he looked stressed after running it because it’s a brutal course with long and winding hills. I’ve run the Firecracker plenty of times and it’s an easy course to cut if someone wanted to. It’s an out and back with thousands of charity walkers on one side and many spectator points where someone could easily make their way into the race and no one would blink an eye. LA road races are pretty much a free for all with bandits and pacers jumping into the fray at any given time, so this would be one of the easiest races to fake a time.

There’s also a difference between sturdy, strong runners legs and elite level ones. National caliber masters athletes even at 60+ have much more impressive legs than his. I encourage you to attend a Masters USATF championship race and you’ll be able to compare apples to apples.

He can come out and run at SoCal USATF Masters Championships or Western Region and run a 5 or 10K. Even though he’s a doctor, I’ll pay for his USATF membership and race fees.

Godlike strength & fast running without stress! I wonder that he even bothers to get records or practice medicine. He should declare himself Messiah and lead us all into a New Age.

I'm confused about something--went back to review p19 where there are all the photos from Pasadena. Hinkle Finkle says there are "early photos" from Pasadena showing Frank running with the two bandits with whom he subsequently runs late in the race, before and after giving the woman his bib. Is this true? I thought the only photos of him running with them are from late in the race. One version: Frank runs a legit 1:26 half, or whatever it was, and is photographed crossing the line. After finishing, he walks a very short distance west and maybe a little south, and gets back into the race to join two people not wearing bibs. He's photographed with them running about 1:50 pace, and then at some point he, for reasons unknown, gives the woman his bib. She subsequently finishes, although there doesn't appear to be evidence his timing chip fired again. What would happen if his chip crossed the line twice? Could this have happened and they just discounted it? The two bandits are on video at the 1 mile mark, without Frank. So I'm not sure Hinkle Finkle is correct about what would be damning evidence. That said, this is so bizarre. Physically possibly but why on earth does someone act like this?!

Hinkle Finkle wrote:

He did the same thing at the Pasadena Half: started with 3 bandits who averaged 8:30 pace, as seen in the early photos, then managed to average 6:30 pace for the race. Then finished, turned around, and handed his bib to one of the bandits running 8:30 pace. This doesn't necessarily constitute cheating, but it sure is some very odd pacing strategy.

Good news is, the more it’s talked about the less effective it is. Cheaters prefer secrecy.

I believe you are correct about this. He crossed the finish line and then ran back to give his bib to the woman at some point after the photos were taken. The photo was taken in roughly the same spot (in the last mile) where Frank was photographed with the guys that finished approximately two minutes ahead of him.

That is my take on the Pasadena event as well.

Go back to page 19. There seem to be three bandits running together with the doctor at the first photo point. I'll call them Mr. Red, Mr. White, and Ms. Grey. We don't know where that photo was taken, but the Three Banditos apparently ran 8:30ish pace, and the doctor is running with them at that point. He then manages to hit very even 5k splits at 6:30 pace, so it seems like he busted out some sub-5 pace in between that photo and the first chip mat, then went on to hit very consistent 6:30 pace until the finish. Then he doubles back and hands his bib to Ms. Grey. You can see that the three bandits finished together in about 1:51.

So yes, this doesn't prove anything besides bib swapping and aiding bandits, but it is very odd behavior. Who knows, maybe the guy really is capable of starting at 8:30 pace, running for a while, then accelerating to the point where he's able to hit the 5k mat averaging 6:30 pace. If that happened, I'm sure he shattered a few age group records along the way for the shorter distances.

I’m sure Doc was just handing them their meds & checking to see if they were okay.

No. Someone familiar with the Pasadena course identified the area with cones as being within a mile of the finish before runners head into the stadium. Also, the woman in the photos (Ms. Grey) was wearing the same shirt as Mr. Red in the video from early in the run.

However, are the "Three Banditos" photographed post-race with Frank at the 2017 LA Marathon? Or do they just look alike?

Looks like, after he handed out some magic dust to the reindeer, Santa Claus saved some for himself!

Frank Table wrote:

No. Someone familiar with the Pasadena course identified the area with cones as being within a mile of the finish before runners head into the stadium. Also, the woman in the photos (Ms. Grey) was wearing the same shirt as Mr. Red in the video from early in the run.

According to the course map, any part of the course from mile 10 to the end is run on or alongside the golf course. So, if the photos are 1 mile from the end, we should see the golf course in some of them (I would expect). I believe there is a blurry street sign in some of those photos. A person familar with the course should be able to tell us what the street sign says. Hopefully they will.

Hats off to everybody who is capable to run a 2:53 marathon with all the flapping potato sacs on the body and a black cap which one sees on the photos. Really superb performance. He should race in Berlin just in shorts and a sleeveless style shirt, nothing more. And Nike's Vapor Fly 4%.

Wow, the plot thickens, seems they've been a team for a while, Doc and the Three Banditos. One is the Docs son, Francisco, but who are the other two?

Also, I know the Doc only ran 2:58, (only lol), in this one, but really, does he look like a 68 year old 2:58 runner in those photos?

Doc hopes all those dark colors will hide his beer ? belly.

LA Marathon 2018 Sara Tartof and Frank Meza https://www.marathonfoto.com/Proofs?PIN=04KP61&lastName=TARTOF

I can see why he can’t wear white anymore!