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

Like I said, I bought the apathy argument when the initial decision came out and I fully agree that, based on their statement, it sounds like they didn't even look at the photographic evidence.

After the backlash and the evidence that was posted to their Facebook page, though, I no longer believe that they are simply ignorant. They now KNOW that Rossi cheated and yet they are willingly harming their race's reputation by not issuing a DQ?

I just don't buy it. I get that it's hard to change face, but they could easily point to the photographic slideshows as the "further evidence" that caused them to reverse their decision without looking incompetent to the general public. Also, as has been pointed out repeatedly, they never said in their statement that they believed that Rossi didn't cheat.

I'm with you greenfan wrote:

Let me explain something to you my simpleton friend, Mike wasn't "found innocent", accusations were made against him that the RD and USATF considered fallacious, therefore he is presumed to be innocent.

I believe he's innocent and whether you or anyone likes it or not the man is innocent, just ask the LVM RD and USATF.

Perfect - keep it up. An insult combined with more misinformation - really shows Mike Rossi is a POS. The RD and the USATF have never said the claim was fallacious, and we all know Mike could not tun a 3:11 marathon and did not run the course.

Your post is especially awesome where you switch from presumed innocent to saying he was innocent after denying that nobody found him innocent. Just really really ridiculous crap to show Mike Rossi is a POS as well as a cheater. Keep it up!

Sound familiar. wrote:

This from an article re the NOP saga:

"Until such time as some solid evidence can be produced against Salazar and Farah and they are found guilty, they are entitled to be presumed innocent, all we have had so far is unsubstantiated allegations by disgruntled former employees of the Oregon Project, with an axe to grind."

Sounds familiar, a bit like this thread.

Perfect - this too shows Mike is a POS. They are not similar at all. Love the attempt to confuse. The overwhelming evidence that Mike Rossi cheated actually exists. It's not just allegations. But, you were trying to show Mike Rossi is a POS, and it worked. Well done.

Fire Barb McKeever! wrote:

Like I said, I bought the apathy argument when the initial decision came out and I fully agree that, based on their statement, it sounds like they didn't even look at the photographic evidence.

After the backlash and the evidence that was posted to their Facebook page, though, I no longer believe that they are simply ignorant. They now KNOW that Rossi cheated and yet they are willingly harming their race's reputation by not issuing a DQ?

I just don't buy it. I get that it's hard to change face, but they could easily point to the photographic slideshows as the "further evidence" that caused them to reverse their decision without looking incompetent to the general public. Also, as has been pointed out repeatedly, they never said in their statement that they believed that Rossi didn't cheat.

They can't say that he didn't cheat because they can't substantiate it. The sad thing is that other race directors have turned a blind eye to cheating. Barb isn't the only one as was pointed out in the recent Runners World article. No it doesn't make sense. I think under the right circumstances they would reverse their decision. That includes having those who ran the race make a unified push and call for a reversal, or at least get answers as to what was reviewed and why its not conclusive and having the force of some real investigative journalism shine a light on this injustice.

+1

You couldn't make it up wrote:

This coming from the biggest nutjob troll on the thread who even did a humungous mega troll blog, talk about the inmates taking over the asylum, you couldn't make it up. :)

I've seen this a few times - the crazy misuse of a phrase"inmates taking over the asylum" - great stuff, Mike Rossi is a POS, thanks for the reminder.

This is of course a message board where people mostly posy anonymously - and the history for trolls etc. on LRC is well known. Hard to imagine how the reference used could possibly be used to describe LRC, since it's always been in the hands of anonymous posters largely posting stuff that is low on the kindness scale.

But, your intent was not to make sense, but to remind us that MIke Rossi is a POS and we appreciate that! Good work

I agree, very few potential registrants likely go the race's facebook page. How come there are no comments about the integrity of the race on

That's where I always go when thinking about registering for a marathon.

Nice job wrote:

The truth is out there wrote:

This is unbelievably on point. I love the shout out to SaraB.

http://captiongenerator.com/48221/No-BQ-for-You

Very nicely done. Bravo!!

"I won't get to kiss the Wellesley girls" !!!!

9000 wrote:

1000 to go!

It looks like there is room for another digit on the message board. I think the true test will be post 100,000

I know that other race directors turn a blind eye to cheating at their races, but has another race ever been on the receiving end of public pressure to DQ the way that Lehigh Valley has? It's easy to turn a blind eye to cheating when nobody brings the suspicious result to your attention and feasible when you only have one or two complainents, corresponding with you privately, by email.

On the other hand, when you have a 9000+ post thread, numerous blogs, articles, and Facebook posts about the alleged cheating, and it's as obvious as it is in this case, how can you not DQ?

The comments on that site are reviewed prior to being published and the guy who runs it will not post the negative stuff about Rossi on there. He feels it is not the appropriate venue and only wants people to write about their personal experiences in running the race.

So that's why nothing about Rossi shows up on the marathonguide.com site.

Your last paragraph is the key. First, of the 9000+ posts, I think we can agree many of those are really worthy of being counted, some are very repetitive, etc. There are certainly a few blogs and postings on other websites (might as well plug mine -

) but unless she knows about it directly or others with influence are calling her up (such as the head of Lehigh Valley Health Network, sponsors, racers, etc) I think she is deaf to any of that. Keep in mind, I am working when I can to find a way to shine a light on this and get the attention it deserves but its hard.

If you really want to see Mike Rossi DQed the bets method would be putting pressure on sponsors and letting them know about the situation. You see this all of the time in pro sports where sponsors pull sponsorships and immediately change happens.

Lindy Effect is right! The fact that this thread has made it to 9,000 posts is not an indication that it will make it to 10,000. That is a given. 9,000 is an indication that this could make it to 20,000. Perhaps even 30,000 over time.

All the thread needs is something fresh, like Rossi running another marathon (whether he cheats again or runs 4:01 again is irrelevant). Or Rossi gets a DUI. Or Rossi gets fired from East Coast. Or his wife leaves him. Anything of substance and you have thousands of additional posts.

This thread could be dormant for months and then he pops up in the local 5K and runs 22:30. One bump post and this thing is off and running again.

There's no living this down.

RossiCheated wrote:

Lindy Effect is right! The fact that this thread has made it to 9,000 posts is not an indication that it will make it to 10,000. That is a given. 9,000 is an indication that this could make it to 20,000. Perhaps even 30,000 over time.

All the thread needs is something fresh, like Rossi running another marathon (whether he cheats again or runs 4:01 again is irrelevant). Or Rossi gets a DUI. Or Rossi gets fired from East Coast. Or his wife leaves him. Anything of substance and you have thousands of additional posts.

This thread could be dormant for months and then he pops up in the local 5K and runs 22:30. One bump post and this thing is off and running again.

There's no living this down.

I don't know what the Lindy effect is but the main reason this thread is going is because Rossi and his friends keep posting in it. Even with all of the cheating and the letter I think this would've died a long time ago had Rossi not kept it going through posting here and taunting posters on twitter and Facebook.

Is he that silly? Are his friends that silly?

To keep the conversation going?

Sadly, the answer is yes.

Does anyone know how to use Wikipedia? If so, can you provide some information for Mike Rossi, along with footnotes and links?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_course-cutting

Waiting for Godot wrote:

Does anyone know how to use Wikipedia? If so, can you provide some information for Mike Rossi, along with footnotes and links?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_course-cutting

Just a note of caution - only put fact-based content on Wiki.

Wiki Wiki Wiki wrote:

Waiting for Godot wrote:

Does anyone know how to use Wikipedia? If so, can you provide some information for Mike Rossi, along with footnotes and links?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_course-cutting

Just a note of caution - only put fact-based content on Wiki.

Absolutely. Facts such as the allegation, his time, lack of photos, all facts.