Did Mike Rossi (viral marathon dad) cheat his way into Boston?

No photos, no intermediate times. There are no excuses for this.

Mike Rossi

M - 47Rydal, PA, USA

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Total Races

20

Total Race Miles

202 Mike is a Runner.

5K

6 Race Results

21:52

Personal Best

Top

15.6%

Athlinks Rank

1/2 Mara

5 Race Results

1:40:44

Personal Best

Top

25.9%

Athlinks Rank

Marathon

3 Race Results

3:11:45

Personal Best

Top

32.7%

Athlinks Rank

10Mi Run

2 Race Results

1:14:48

Personal Best

Top

18.8%

Athlinks Rank

5Mi Run

2 Race Results

35:54

Personal Best

Top

14.1%

Athlinks Rank

10K

1 Race Results

47:40

Personal Best

Top

10.2%

Athlinks Rank

ResultsEventsFollowingRivals

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2015 Pace Finish Place Final Time

Age Gender Overall

5 Mi

Frostbite 5 Miler Ambler

Ambler, PA, US • Feb 28th

7:33 /Mi 14 126 161 37:49

2014 Pace Finish Place Final Time

Age Gender Overall

26.2 Mi

Philadelphia Marathon

Philadelphia, PA, US • Nov 23rd

8:32 /Mi 229 1,954 2,579 3:43:52

6.2 Mi

Rocky Balboa Run 5k/10k

Philadelphia, PA, US • Nov 15th

7:40 /Mi 10 131 161 47:40

3.1 Mi

Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon & 5K

Philadelphia, PA, US • Sep 20th

7:02 /Mi 6 47 59 21:52

13.1 Mi

Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon & 5K

Philadelphia, PA, US • Sep 20th

10:43 /Mi 573 4,574 9,481 2:20:27

26.2 Mi

Lehigh Valley Health Network Via Marathon

Allentown, PA, US • Sep 7th

7:19 /Mi 5 106 114 3:11:45

3.1 Mi

Back on My Feet in24 Finale 5k

Philadelphia, PA, US • Jul 20th

7:13 /Mi 8 11 11 22:26

3.1 Mi

Christmas In July 5K

Philadelphia, PA, US • Jul 9th

7:44 /Mi 5 16 24 24:03

3.1 Mi

Gary Papa Father’s Day 5K Run/Walk

Philadelphia, PA, US • Jun 15th

7:16 /Mi 24 130 155 22:36

13.1 Mi

ODDyssey Half Marathon

Philadelphia, PA, US • Jun 8th

8:10 /Mi 12 182 240 1:47:03

5 Mi

Upper Gwynedd 5 Miler

North Wales, PA, US • May 18th

7:10 /Mi 1 8 10 35:54

10 Mi

Blue Cross Broad Street Run

Philadelphia, PA, US • May 4th

7:28 /Mi 132 1,840 2,273 1:14:48

13.1 Mi

Bucks County Half Marathon

Newtown, PA, US • Apr 13th

8:34 /Mi 8 101 127 1:52:18

13.1 Mi

The Love Run

Philadelphia, PA, US • Mar 30th

7:41 /Mi 22 308 427 1:40:44

2013 Pace Finish Place Final Time

Age Gender Overall

3.1 Mi

Abington Gobble Wobble 5k

Abington, PA, US • Nov 28th

8:15 /Mi 23 242 321 25:38

26.2 Mi

Philadelphia Marathon & Half Marathon, 8k

Philadelphia, PA, US • Nov 17th

10:10 /Mi 476 4,025 6,503 4:26:37

13.1 Mi

Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon

Philadelphia, PA, US • Sep 15th

8:05 /Mi 185 1,773 2,571 1:45:58

3.1 Mi

Christmas In July 5k

Philadelphia, PA, US • Jul 24th

7:17 /Mi 3 22 31 22:39

3.1 Mi

11th Annual Gary Papa Father’s Day 5K Run/Walk

Philadelphia, PA, US • Jun 16th

7:05 /Mi 12 119 145 22:01

10 Mi

Blue Cross Broad Street Run

Philadelphia, PA, US • May 5th

8:09 /Mi 386 4,573 6,367 1:21:34

george oscar bluth wrote:

534 wrote:

Actually, it should be easy to prove. He's wearing a GPS watch in the finish line pictures.If Rossi posts his data from that day, this whole thing goes away and everyone feels stupid.

I wear a GPS watch. Never upload any of the runs and rarely save them on my watch.

Again, I'm in agreement with you, but he can give a weak excuse for everything so far and the general public will buy it.

You can certainly explain any one of them away, but when you add up all the bragging about his other races, why is this one absent? You were wearing your GPS? Why no photos through out the course? Why 1:10 per mile faster than anyother marathon you have ever run? Why was Boston 50 minutes slower? Why don't any of your other races translate. After a while he looks like a dancing fool. Not only that, this isn't a bunch of letsrunners out to get him, he brought this on himself by insulting his school with his holier than thou attitude. If he just kept things to himself and didn't brag so much then no one would have been the wiser. Until someone on Letsrun got board and started doing database comparisons of hobby joggers that is!

george oscar bluth wrote:

everything so far and the general public will buy it.

The general public's reaction to this would be "what's the big deal" and "leave the poor guy alone" and turn him into a sympathetic figure......and the turd knows it. He knows only the runners would come down hard on him and once he got the notoriety he was looking for he figured he could handle the fallout by switching to victim. Love how he worked in the injury to his tale.

He is a cheating scum bag who is quite devious and spent a lot of time planning this. Too bad he didn't use it to train and run the race the right way.

Older Guy wrote:

The general public's reaction to this would be "what's the big deal" and "leave the poor guy alone" and turn him into a sympathetic figure

Agreed, I tried explaining the Litton story to some non-runners when it made The New Yorker and to them I was quibbling about minor details. People are clueless morons.

He brought me closer to the marathon. Now I know how to run close to 3 hours. I will get a bike or a car. Thanks mike.

I don't have much to add here but I will throw in my 2 cents. I ran the Via Marathon in 2014 as well. I was pulling in a ~7:15 ish pace for the first 18 miles until my hammy seized at mile 20 and I had to post a DNF.

I honestly don't remember if the course had a half split chip timer or not.

However, the course did have something that I found odd. When I DNFed, they called in a shuttle bus to the aid station (just before mile 21). I was allowed to get on and the woman in charge radioed my number in to call the DNF. However, this is a manual process - it's easy to get the numbers wrong and she failed to call in some of the other runners that came on the bus at other stops, one I remember had taken his shirt off.

We were then shuttled in to about a block away from the finish line. Hell I could have easily walked off the bus, ran around the buildings and joined the racers (making it looks like a potty stop or something).

I checked my photos and didn't see him in any of them. I had photos from the first 3 miles, and several along the gravel part on the river just before mile 13 then some just after that.

Lehigh seems to have no mats between start and finish:

Chip Time Chip Pace Gun Time Gun Pace

03:11:45 07:19 min/mi 03:12:16 07:20 min/mi

Note there is no big "Litton delay" between gun and chip times.

Results Questions? Contact Super Race Systems at:

results@superracesystems.com

http://results.chronotrack.com/event/results/event/event-10268?lc=en

It would be EXTREMELY difficult to cheat at this marathon. Not likely.

why? aren't there no timing mats? plus its a small race. makes it quite easy with a bit of planning

It would be extremely easy to cut off the out-and-back around mile 12:

http://viamarathon.org/event_info/course/map_marathon_relay.php

Though if he only cut that small portion, he should still have more pictures than he does.

There's also a relay at the marathon. Super easy to jump off the course, jump on, without any spectators batting an eye.

cheater wrote:

It would be extremely easy to cut off the out-and-back around mile 12:

http://viamarathon.org/event_info/course/map_marathon_relay.php

Though if he only cut that small portion, he should still have more pictures than he does.

I was just looking at that. it would only save ~10 minutes. still way faster than we would expect from this guy

anyone know if the course is open to the public? could hop on a bike and ride most of it w/ number covered?

I had too much time on my hands and I like a good mystery, so I just looked at literally hundreds and hundreds of race photos, starting with finishers in front of this guy (twenty runners) and behind him (twenty-five runners) and he isn't there. You see the same people over and over in little groups and then they obviously spread out on the bike trail and into the finish area and he just isn't anywhere to be seen until his finish line photos (in a rather inconspicuous black outfit and hat, head down). He isn't there in the photos taken right after the gun is fired either.

Most runners have several photos along the route (some as many as ten photos, I imagine) and it took awhile to look through so many. As for him, just the finish line photos.

If you look for yourselves, note that runner 2333 looks similar (black outfit) but once you look at them both for comparison you can easily eliminate 2333 when you see him later (he has no hat, the shirt is really different and he is rather tall).

He cheated. Bet his boys are going to be proud. I sense they are about to get a real education.

Not a Cheater wrote:It would be EXTREMELY difficult to cheat at this marathon. Not likely.

OK, so why are there no photos by the official race photographer of Mr. Rossi other than at the finish? It's easy enough to find pictures of finishers both in front of and behind him. Here's the bib numbers of the sixteen folks between 3:10 and 3:13:

2047

1444

1163

1185

1388

1603

2550

2544

1242

2531

1823

2161 Mike

1997

2028

1711

1950

Go here and look at all the pictures of people not named Mike Rossi.

I think it was closed but I'm not sure. The part on the D & L path is so narrow that being on a bike would attract a lot of attention even if it wasn't prohibited.

It would be easy to hop off the course at the Bethlehem out and back, hop into a car, and take it to just past the 20 mile marker. He would have needed an accomplice, but it's very doable.

based on where others said the photographers were, I'd expect to see pictures of him. it seems like he didn't run most of it, not just a quick shortcut