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

I'm in full agreement with you.

PitchinAFit wrote:

Geez, you aren't kidding. Look at 3017_115398. The guy in yellow seems to be quite upset, which is understandable. Nothing like running an honest pace just to see some guy jump in right behind you from a side street.

I thought that too, someone needs to get those high resolution photos.

worst debater eve wrote:

A 46 yo here in Sydney ran a Pb of 2:36 in Berlin

Yes, that's faster. What's your point? 2:53 at 48 or whatever is still very fast.

In response to a view that people dont run 2:52 in mid 40's

Keep up

Just Sayin'. wrote:

And was Whitlock and your Sydney runner built like Frank, did they wear a long sleeve and short sleeve T-shirt, did they have all kind of split discrepancies, were they missed in photo points on the course that everyone else managed to get in, etc, etc, etc, etc...

Oh yeah, and a 46 yo Australian ran 2:25:51, 2:28:17 at 47 and 2:28:29 at 48 yo, Bill Raimond didn't look like Frank, plus all the other stuff didn't apply either.

There are always genuine outliers, Frank wouldn't appear to be one of them.

Who the heck is Bill Raimond?

Not for sure, he seems to have been successful so far. He could have planted his own bikes along the course. Why let anyone else know what he is doing. What kind of person would be in on this with FM?

Avocado's Number wrote:

Frank Meza Report wrote:

In the photo sequence where Frank jumps back in at Hollywood Blvd the runner and yellow appears to turn towards Frank and gesture WTF by throwing up his arms in the air.

I was thinking the same thing. Either that, or he's doing a highly premature victory celebration.

Actually, the runner in yellow is very theatrical and is hamming it up in almost every photo that he is in. Is it possible that the dark area/blob near where the person (presumably Mesa) enters the course from the side is a race photographer?

Just enlarge on your cell phone. That is Frank Meza. This is not speculation. There is already that evidence. This gives the Race Director a reason to ask Frank to explaing what's going on.

PitchinAFit wrote:

Geez, you aren't kidding. Look at 3017_115398. The guy in yellow seems to be quite upset, which is understandable. Nothing like running an honest pace just to see some guy jump in right behind you from a side street.

I'm disappointed neither LRC nor MI has stepped up and purchased this photo and the others. Especially with Whitlock's legacy on this board.

Yeah, it's not an official course, but it's not an easy course either.

Just saw a photo of Frank on the grassy knoll

Look at the series of photos. It all follows and the runner who appears up close who cut in is ____!

dropping the ball wrote:

Especially with Whitlock's legacy on this board.

.

Don’t forget “JustGene”.

Lip Kitten wrote:

Avocado's Number wrote:

I was thinking the same thing. Either that, or he's doing a highly premature victory celebration.

Actually, the runner in yellow is very theatrical and is hamming it up in almost every photo that he is in. Is it possible that the dark area/blob near where the person (presumably Mesa) enters the course from the side is a race photographer?

Yes, definitely.

PitchinAFit wrote:

Geez, you aren't kidding. Look at 3017_115398. The guy in yellow seems to be quite upset, which is understandable. Nothing like running an honest pace just to see some guy jump in right behind you from a side street.

#22397. He's on Strava.

I Am Sam wrote:

Who the heck is Bill Raimond?

From Wollongong, Bill would be 83yo now, not sure if he's still around though. ?

Ran some great times over other distances and other marathons too.

Just to show I'm not bullshitting, one William Raymond:

https://imgur.com/a/g0992Tv

And one Edward Whitlock:

https://runningmagazine.ca/elite-qa/ed-whitlock-questions-and-answers/

Frank doesn't look like either of these.

I knew all those male runners in the single age categories of 66yo to 71yo, all great runners who looked like marathon men, and none of them in those age categories ran 2:52/3/4, but Frank supposedly did, whatta joke.

The best legend John Gilmour could do at 70yo was 3:03:04.

https://ausrunning.net/stats/australians-age-records.php

I Am Sam wrote:

worst debater eve wrote:

Yes, that's faster. What's your point? 2:53 at 48 or whatever is still very fast.

In response to a view that people dont run 2:52 in mid 40's

Keep up

No one said that people don't run 2:52 in their mid-40s. Rather, the poster to whom you were responding was quoting from a New Yorker article about one of the more fascinating cheaters, a seemingly respectable dentist named Kip Litton, exposed by sleuths on this message board. Here is a link to the article:

Here, in context, is the specific quotation:

One of the LetsRun sleuths’ most impressive unearthings was a photograph taken near the thirty-kilometre checkpoint of the 2010 Boston Marathon. It depicted six runners wearing singlets or short-sleeved shirts, their racing bibs attached, on pace for sub-three-hour performances. At the left edge of the frame, slightly cropped, was Litton. The others were clearly in brisk mid-stride. Litton appeared to be walking, or slowly jogging, along the shoulder of the road, and he wore a long-sleeved black shirt, black sweatpants, a black baseball cap, and shades. He had no racing bib showing. He was credited that year with a time of 2:52:12.

At Wendy’s, we did not discuss the photograph. But, a few weeks later, I attached it to an e-mail and told him, in so many words, “Gotcha.” No non-élite runner in his late forties could run a 2:52:12 marathon—an average pace of 6:34 per mile—in mild weather wearing that kind of clothing. (Before the finish line, the long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants had been swapped for a T-shirt, shorts, and a different hat.) By not showing a bib mid-race, Litton was counting on not being photographed, or at least not being recognized as a race entrant. Sticking to the shoulder allowed him to get close enough for his chip to register at the thirty-kilometre checkpoint.

Rereading this passage about the curious case of Kip Litton, D.D.S., I'm struck by the similarities in so many cases over the years. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. But they still fascinate me.

Lets face it, any person of any age, ability or physique has to do some fairly serious training to run 2:52, for a 70yo old to do it all the stars have to align.

Does this look familiar? https://www.athlinks.com/athletes/3908643