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

I agree that asking the other LVM runners to lodge a protest or whatever is borderline obsessive. Let's just see where the video and still photo evidence takes us. If it goes nowhere, so what.

printer wrote:

I agree that asking the other LVM runners to lodge a protest or whatever is borderline obsessive. Let's just see where the video and still photo evidence takes us. If it goes nowhere, so what.

As per Harry Fisher's email above, it has now officially gone nowhere.

printer wrote:

I agree that asking the other LVM runners to lodge a protest or whatever is borderline obsessive. Let's just see where the video and still photo evidence takes us. If it goes nowhere, so what.

I don't think it is any more obsessive than what has already been done here and elsewhere. I believe the premise is that the RD has said that they will have no additional comments on this matter, after saying they would consider any conclusive evidence provided. Which is really to say, leave us alone.

We know that some folks have tried contacting her and other's at LVM to no avail. Therefore, instead of a bunch of board posters trying to bring any evidence to her and the Committee (which has zero chance of working), it would be better served if (some of) those who actually paid money and ran the race in question to submit any evidence or make a statement to her, the Committee and media. While it may not work and may be a grandiose, it honestly does seem more reasonable than anyone here trying to get the Committee to act. If I had run the race, I would be saying to her and the Committee and the media, I ran the race and this situation and obvious cheating has devalued my efforts and all the efforts by those who ran it fairly.

I think the real problem is that today's society really doesn't care as much as everyone here would like to think about cheating. Yes people hate cheaters but at the end of the day they don't really care enough to do anything about it. That enables the Rossi's of the world to get away with it.

Sincere answer, in pieces:

1) We already proved he cheated. Whether others accept the proof or not is beyond our control. A reasonable RD and race committee would have DQed him post haste.

2) Some ideas that seem grandiose have already been actualized, like creating a video of five check points that tracks every runner and shows the odds of him running and not being photographed are one in 572,000. Can you imagine the work that went into the grandiose idea?

3) Whether to follow through on a grand plan to reach out to the runners and try to rally them, or to start a social media campaign to boycott the race altogether (#boycottlehigh) is doable but begs the question: Do we want to attack the race itself because a few people are cowards or morons? Do we do a disservice to the sport through such an action?

(By the way, I know that a "huge" boycott would not happen. However, I do believe we could dent the participation to the tune of 10 to 15%, which is painful to the budget of such an event. And a boycott could be supported by a call to donate directly to the charity, which could yield them more money in total and would help avoid the accusation that we are hurting a charity.)

4) Mike has already lost. Sure, he got to run Boston and he hasn't been DQed (yet, if ever). But ask yourselves, if these articles were about you, have you won?

http://www.runnersworld.com/general-interest/via-marathon-no-evidence-marathon-dad-cheated

http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/06/01/mike-rossi-boston-marathon-dad/

http://www.runnersworld.com/newswire/questions-arise-over-how-a-pennsylvania-dad-qualified-for-boston

http://gearjunkie.com/mike-rossi-marathon-cheater-boston-marathon

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/-dad-of-the-year--boston-marathon-runner-under-investigation-over-qualification-questions-205004421.html

If these videos, showing a guy isn't in a race, were about you, have you won?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxKfEiOfGmY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGilRGr2GlI

If the best claim you have to innocence is this tepid press release, which basically says, "he may have cheated but the evidence isn't conclusive but we'll do better next year," have you won?

http://www.kintera.org/htmlcontent.asp?cid=666508

No, if Mike Rossi ever cared about running and being a part of a running community or sharing in the mutual respect that runners have for one another, he knows that he has lost spectacularly.

So that's where we stand today, as I see it.

The Truth About Cheating wrote:

I think the real problem is that today's society really doesn't care as much as everyone here would like to think about cheating. Yes people hate cheaters but at the end of the day they don't really care enough to do anything about it. That enables the Rossi's of the world to get away with it.

It was also a victimless crime. I don't like the fact that he cheated, but I'm not going to waste my own time trying to get a nobody from nowhere DQed, when he didn't even win an AG award.

And please do not say he took someone else's spot in Boston. It doesn't work that way.

Captain Han Solo wrote:

I don't know what the big deal is. I made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, he could have run the full marathon in less than 26.2 miles.

I have something for you for Father's Day, meet me on Friday December 18, and I will give it you. Hint: it is red, makes a humming sound, and has a cross guard. - Love Kylo

Could some please explain why this thread has been moved here? But yet it is linked to the story on the main page?

The truth about your post wrote:

The Truth About Cheating wrote:

I think the real problem is that today's society really doesn't care as much as everyone here would like to think about cheating. Yes people hate cheaters but at the end of the day they don't really care enough to do anything about it. That enables the Rossi's of the world to get away with it.

It was also a victimless crime. I don't like the fact that he cheated, but I'm not going to waste my own time trying to get a nobody from nowhere DQed, when he didn't even win an AG award.

And please do not say he took someone else's spot in Boston. It doesn't work that way.

It was not a victimless crime, Rossi took a spot away from a person that actually trained hard to qualify for Boston and was rejected because Mike took his spot at Boston.

Sincerely asking wrote:

printer wrote:

I agree that asking the other LVM runners to lodge a protest or whatever is borderline obsessive. Let's just see where the video and still photo evidence takes us. If it goes nowhere, so what.

As per Harry Fisher's email above, it has now officially gone nowhere.

After months of being trolled by Mike how are you people still falling for this?

TJR25 wrote:

The truth about your post wrote:

It was also a victimless crime. I don't like the fact that he cheated, but I'm not going to waste my own time trying to get a nobody from nowhere DQed, when he didn't even win an AG award.

And please do not say he took someone else's spot in Boston. It doesn't work that way.

It was not a victimless crime, Rossi took a spot away from a person that actually trained hard to qualify for Boston and was rejected because Mike took his spot at Boston.

Sure you can say it was one spot and the cutoff never effects just one person but if 200 people do what Rossi did every year which I believe is the case then it isn't a victimless crime. Rossi is just one of many cheaters who as a collective unit steal people's spots who have trained hard and earned their BQ.

Bingo - today's society only cares about sound bytes and most have the attention span of a goldfish. Today's society also likes to be spoon fed information, they don't ever want to have to look too hard for anything. Mike will keep feeding garbage to those in his circle and they are never going to be motivated enough to question anything and look outside and even do a simple google search. Sorry everyone, your time was not well spent unless like me you found this more entertaining than anything else. Thanks for playing.

The Truth About Cheating wrote:

I think the real problem is that today's society really doesn't care as much as everyone here would like to think about cheating. Yes people hate cheaters but at the end of the day they don't really care enough to do anything about it. That enables the Rossi's of the world to get away with it.

The Truth About Cheating wrote:

TJR25 wrote:

It was not a victimless crime, Rossi took a spot away from a person that actually trained hard to qualify for Boston and was rejected because Mike took his spot at Boston.

Sure you can say it was one spot and the cutoff never effects just one person but if 200 people do what Rossi did every year which I believe is the case then it isn't a victimless crime. Rossi is just one of many cheaters who as a collective unit steal people's spots who have trained hard and earned their BQ.

It is also not a victimless crime (not really a crime) in that it devalues all the hard work and effort by those who didn't cheat. How about the guy who finished 6th in his age group. Not bad, but hey, i would prefer to say I finished in the top 5 or 5th in my age group. Sure, there isn't money or endorsement deals here, but it is not victimless.

Another reason why people, especially non-athletes, do not care about cheating is, think about the number of people who probably cheat in other areas of the lives. personally, professionally, romantically, whatever. People feel they are entitled to something without having to put forth the effort. It has become an entitlement based society. Oh so I cheated "a little" or "its just a little lie" or "its a victimless lie or crime". Way too politically correct as well - everyone get participation awards when participating in sports or other events when growing up as we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Keep in mind, real life has some ups and downs and if you don't learn how to deal with the downs early on, it creates problem later on.

But based on general interest (this thread, RW and FB) people don't really care if it devalues the hard work and effort of anyone else. People seem ok and accepting of the cheating.

Bloviator wrote:

The Truth About Cheating wrote:

Sure you can say it was one spot and the cutoff never effects just one person but if 200 people do what Rossi did every year which I believe is the case then it isn't a victimless crime. Rossi is just one of many cheaters who as a collective unit steal people's spots who have trained hard and earned their BQ.

It is also not a victimless crime (not really a crime) in that it devalues all the hard work and effort by those who didn't cheat. How about the guy who finished 6th in his age group. Not bad, but hey, i would prefer to say I finished in the top 5 or 5th in my age group. Sure, there isn't money or endorsement deals here, but it is not victimless.

You nailed it!!

Bingo wrote:

Bloviator wrote:

Another reason why people, especially non-athletes, do not care about cheating is, think about the number of people who probably cheat in other areas of the lives. personally, professionally, romantically, whatever. People feel they are entitled to something without having to put forth the effort. It has become an entitlement based society. Oh so I cheated "a little" or "its just a little lie" or "its a victimless lie or crime". Way too politically correct as well - everyone get participation awards when participating in sports or other events when growing up as we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Keep in mind, real life has some ups and downs and if you don't learn how to deal with the downs early on, it creates problem later on.

You nailed it!!

Yes, i know. That is what she said.

I'll take it even further and say that much of the general public is protective and definitely sympathize with cheaters like Mike. Some of the FB/RW comments actually asked for people to leave this poor man alone and "so what if he cheated in a stupid race". We're all becoming a bunch of cheaters and sympathizers. I usually get blasted for saying this is a root problem in society. You do all know that Mike doesn't think he did anything wrong... or at the very least he thinks he deserves to get away with this small crime.

I could have taken it much further, by didn't want to over-bloviate, lol. Seriously, of course the general public sympathizes and is protective because again, they are not much different in their daily lives. Too much un-"reality" tv and such.