Just Some Facts for Newbies & Everyone (slightly updated):
1. Rossi posted a letter online that he received from the principal of his children's elementary school because he took his two children out of school to watch him run in the Boston Marathon.
2. He then responded by writing and posting a sarcastic and self-serving letter to the principal, addressing it "Dear Madam Principal" rather using her real name which would have demonstrated generally accepted standards of respect (he later tries to claim he loves the school and the principal and meant no harm). He essentially threw a hissy fit because he believed that he and his family should be treated differently than any other school district families.
3. He never sent that letter to the principal or any other school administrator but instead posted it online. One could understand taking this public AFTER you have exhausted all avenues of recourse in private that responsible people first try, that is, meeting with school officials first.
4. He subsequently said he posted both letters on only his Facebook page which were solely intended for his "friends" to see. He then denied that he posted either letter anywhere else but to his Facebook page, yet that was a lie as has been shown via screen captures and saved images of his twitter account and other social media sources (including his company website) that he posted/reposted and tweeted/retweeted said letters and giving TV and radio interviews, all before ever meeting with any administrator in the school district. One could argue that he was cyber-bullying the principal by his childish behavior.
5. The principal did not single out Rossi or treat him and his two children any different than any of the other 7,500 students in the school district.
6. This attention brought scrutiny to his public "running" and race times, as well as all of his posting and boasting on his social media accounts. As questions arose, the once very public figure decided to go uncharacteristically quiet and close his social media accounts or made them private.
7. Prior to any of this, Rossi posted and boasted ad- nauseam about his running and training like he was an accomplished or expert runner or athlete, although much of it sounded quite amateurish. He posted pictures of his "feats" and races like a teen.
8. He "runs" the race of a lifetime at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Via Marathon after only 18 months of running and total of about 1,000 miles at the age of 46 and all of sudden he finds modesty and barely mentions his Lehigh Valley Health Network Via Marathon's race time, in spite of somehow cutting an enormous amount of time from his PR. After every other race, he wrote ad-nauseam on his social media accounts and posted tons of pictures at each race. However, for some reason, barely a peep from him after the LVM. Things that make you go hmm?
9. When questioned in an interview about the disconnect between previous race times and his LVM race time/pace, he said he wasn’t trying in the other races yet in his posts he blatantly boasted about his race times and expressed how he thought his races were good etc., thus his posted comments are consistent with someone trying to do his best and trying to get BQ. In fact, in the Philadelphia Marathon he mentions his time and the BQ and being upset that he "just" missed a BQ because of a bathroom break.
10. There is not one single photograph of Rossi on the LVM race course, with the exception of the ones at the finish line. The race course did not have time mats but did have several camera checkpoints on the course. There is a nearly continuous run of photos at least three checkpoints. Here are five checkpoints of photos of the Top 200 finishers, guess who is missing? Yep, Mike Rossi, bib# 2161.
https://youtu.be/vGilRGr2GlI
11. At one of the photo checkpoints there was on average more than 48 photos published per minute for a 13 minute stretch during which Rossi would have to run by the checkpoint (with the fewest photos in any one minute stretch being 40 photos). All of the 20 closest finishers to Rossi (in terms of place, 10 ahead, 10 behind) were spotted at all three checkpoints and yet Mr. Rossi is absent from all three.
12. An analysis of the first photo checkpoint revealed that 199 of the top 200 finishers were photographed. Guess who is missing? Is it a coincidence that the individual who ran his fastest pace at this distance and even faster than many of the shorter distances (in spite of usually slowing down over longer races) did not have one single photo on the course? I think not.
13. The LVM Committee did NOT confirm nor did it state that they believed that Rossi ran the entire race, and they did NOT say that they thought his time was accurate. Quite the opposite, as their statement said there was "no conclusive evidence that his time was inaccurate". Saying or concluding one's time is accurate (and here is why) is much different than saying that there was no conclusive evidence that one's time was inaccurate. In fact, they did not did provide any evidence that his time was accurate. How could they? They did not have interim timing mats and there was not a photo to be found of him on the course. Moreover, they didn't even address the issue of photos in their statement.
14. Other runners can at least point to time stamped photos at various points on the course to say – "there I am", which is more than can be said for Rossi
15. The lack of photos of Rossi is arguably more damning than his time/pace time. Why? One can debate race times/pace, training etc., but there is no bias in continuous, time-stamped photos being taken. That is not to say that race times/pace and training is not an important piece of evidence, it is, especially in light of his other race times, particularly his pace in 5k's.
16. The mere fact that the LVM Race Director decided to impanel a committee to "review" this debacle meant there was enough "probable cause" to do so. Therefore, it is the LVM Committee's and Rossi's responsibility to provide the conclusive evidence that his time is accurate, not anyone else's to provide conclusive evidence that his time is inaccurate.
17. Of course this isn’t any evidence he ran the race or his time is inaccurate because the LVM abdicated its responsibility of ensuring accuracy and validity of the race times before the race by not having timing mats throughout the race course and after the race by its flawed investigation, reasoning and statement.
18. Rossi claims to have photos and other exculpatory evidence to demonstrate that his time is accurate. It is time for Rossi to provide any and all information that he claims to possess rather than just saying so. Saying so does not make it true. If he truly has such evidence, then there is no reason why he should not or would not share it. NONE. Failure to provide this information can only lead one to reasonably conclude that he is lying about this so called "evidence" and thus, he cheated and his time is inaccurate.
19. "In a subsequent conversation with the lawyer [Rossi's lawyer], he said that Mr. Rossi “has identified at last 6 photos, (and) a possible a 7th photo where he thinks he’s in the image of people running on the course.” Conveniently, neither the lawyer or Mr. Rossi would provide us with the photos or links to the photos." Quote taken from
http://www.letsrun.com/news/2015/05/the-evidence-is-overwhelming-mike-rossi-the-viral-marathon-dad-is-a-marathon-cheat-and-should-never-have-been-on-the-starting-line-in-boston/
.
20. The Lehigh Valley Health Network Via Marathon Committee’s statement regarding the DQ of Mr. Rossi, specifically, that there is no evidence that his time is inaccurate is together troubling and flawed, both of which is the direct result of the LVM’s own inaction and failure. Specifically, the LVM did not have the usual time mats (aka anti-cheating mats) throughout the course, but instead only at the start and finish. The LVM abdicated their responsibility to ensure that the runners' times were accurate and to provide the standard and generally accepted precautions race participants have come to expect. Therefore, it is the LVM Committee's and Mr. Rossi's responsibility to provide the conclusive evidence that his time is accurate, not anyone else's to provide conclusive evidence that his time is inaccurate. How does one prove a negative?
21. The mere fact that the LVM Race Director and subsequently formed committee agreed to review Rossi's race results meant there was enough "reasonable cause" to warrant an investigation/review and therefore some sort of positive statement or evidence should be provided to support the LVM Committee's statement/finding and decision not to issue a DQ, not the lack of transparency that has been put forth to date.
22. It is a self-serving statement by the LVM Committee to claim that there is no conclusive evidence that Mr. Rossi’s time is inaccurate. Of course this isn’t because the LVM abandoned its responsibility of ensuring accuracy and validity of the race times before the race by not having timing mats throughout the race course and after the race by its flawed investigation, reasoning and statement.
23. Most of us here are not here to personally attack Mr. Rossi, his family or his professional life. Sometimes "good" people make mistakes. Instead, this is about preserving the integrity and sportsmanship of a race, its results, and not lessening the accomplishments, hard work and sportsmanship of the competitors and runners who did not cheat. A middle of the pack runner should not get the same credit that fast or even slow runners who actually completed the entire race fair and square.
FROM TRANS-MARATHONER (always worth repeating):
It's pretty clear Mike isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. Which, I suppose, should have been obvious - you don't end up a 47 yearold wedding DJ if you excel at anything at all in life. That ridiculous back and forth with Greg, where he showed select portions of some report? Classic Rossi: when everyone else runs a marathon, they cover the entire course; when everyone else shows a document, they show the whole thing. He thinks you just have to show the first and last line of a document and tell people what the rest says? Can anyone actually be this stupid?
The evidence that you cheated, Mike, is overwhelming. Showing select portions of documents - cutting and pasting select portions from the Lehigh statement to claim they said you were "innocent" - when anybody with a grade 2 reading level can see that they said no such thing - this only makes you appear more guilty.
The only way to overcome a massive amount of compelling evidence that you cheated, would be evidence that was even more overwhelming that you did not cheat. A photo at the start and finish is only evidence that you were at the start and the finish - not the middle Mike, not the middle. It's pretty basic stuff, Mike. People are only saying you didn't run the middle bit - that's the issue, Mike, not the start and finish. But, why are we even talking about this. There is no evidence that you actually ran VIA because you didn't. So, really, just stop your pathetic attempts to try to make people think black is white, or vice versa.
What you need to do is just come out already as a trans-marathon runner. While other people run an entire marathon, you identify yourself with people who run an entire marathon. So, when someone asks you - hey, did you really run a 3:11 marathon - you say - I identify myself as a runner who runs a 3:11 marathon. America's first trans-marathoner - Mike Rossi - and you are free of all of this. As a trans-marathoner nobody will ever expect you to run the middle bit of a marathon ever again. You can campaign for marathons to allow a new category of runner, the trans-marathoner, to avoid discriminating against all trans-marathoners who just like the beginning and end bits of a marathon. You should be allowed to be you Mike - don't let anyone tell you that you have to run the middle part of a marathon if you don't want to! End the discrimination, Mike!
Look, it's all well and good for you cis-marathoners to talk about training hard, running hundreds of miles, hills, tempos, getting from point a to b on foot - but it's disrminatory and it needs to stop. The America I love is inclusive to all people of all races, genders, and marathoning ability. Mike Rossi is a trans-marathoner. He likes to take part in the "marathon experience", take a photo of himself at the start, and after driving 25 miles or so, proudly run across the finish line and claim that finishers medal. Then for him, for just a moment, one beautiful shame free moment, he feels like he truly belongs, that he's no different from the cis-marathoners. He can proudly identify himself as being a marathoner.
We should make this a safe place for Mike to come out as s trans-marathoner. Allow him to identify as a marathoner. Heck, I picture eventually we'll see a trans-marathoner bus at the starting line of every inclusive marathon ready to drive the trans-marathoners to the finish. Inside they can pour water on themselves and get ready to come out of the bus glistening and ready for what I call their "1000m run of belonging".
Mike, I want you to know there are people out there who support you as a trans-marathoner and that you are just as special as the cis-marathoners with whom you choose to identify with. Nobody will tell you that you need to run the middle 25 miles of a marathon ever again, Mike. This is a safe place for you now.
FINALLY - Mike Rossi's Theme Song (from Animal House)
Don't know much about running
Don't know much about speed work
Don't know much about a training book
Don't know much about the pictures they took
But I do know that I love myself
And I know that if you love me, too
What a wonderful world this would be
Don't know much about being honest
Don't know much about being modest
Don't know much about a BQ
Don't know what a DQ is for
But I do know one and one is two
And if this one could be with you
What a wonderful world this would be
Now, I don't claim to be a running student
But I'm trying to be
For maybe by being a running student
I can win your love for me
Don't know much about being honest
Don't know much about being modest
Don't know much about a training book
Don't know much about the pictures they took
But I do know that I love myself
And I know that if you love me, too
What a wonderful world this would be
La ta ta ta ta ta ta (Rossied)
Hmm-mm-mm (modest)
La ta ta ta ta ta ta (training book)
Hmm-mm-mm (pictures they took)
Yeah, but I do know that I love myself
And I know that if you love me, too
What a wonderful world this would be
