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

$100,000 challenge? wrote:

Golgi Body wrote:

Maybe if the Brojos could be brought on board, they could make a difference. LR.com seems to carry some weight in the running community. If they start referring to the LA marathon as a race that can't be bothered to address cheating, LA mgmt might take notice.

After humiliating M.R., they don’t seem interested in exposing cheaters any more.

And poor M ... he just wanted a BQ. This guy is after world age group records.

You're right, FM caused a lot more damage than MR. But MR was a major league dick about the kids school in a public way which eventually exposed his cheating. Don't be a dick!

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

$100,000 challenge? wrote:

After humiliating M.R., they don’t seem interested in exposing cheaters any more.

And poor M ... he just wanted a BQ. This guy is after world age group records.

Hopefully his affiliation with Loyola has ended. Disgraceful when you consider the history behind the school’s distance running program. Mihaly Igloi is turning in his grave.

Rojo asked a question about Meza in another thread but that was it. Also, isn't the other Loyola assistant in some photos with Meza. I also agree about the comparison with MR -- Meza's alleged conduct is a lot worse from a running standpoint, but MR was a public relations disaster.

Derek, did you reach out to Francisco, Sara or Phillip regarding Pasadena?

Lip Kitten wrote:

Also, isn't the other Loyola assistant in some photos with Meza.

Yes, this is him. He was one of the three doctors from the same company as Frank who appeared to be running the charity half unregistered (they weren't wearing bibs), although after Frank finished in another fast time he must have gone back along the course and handed his bib to the female because for some reason or other she finished wearing it.

Roderick Powell wrote:

Derek, did you reach out to Francisco, Sara or Phillip regarding Pasadena?

All I've done was determine his split time from the photo outside the Rose Bowl to the finish. Off the top of the head, I don't know who these people are.

I know he gave his bib to a female, apparently after he finished.

Roderick Powell wrote:

Phillip Bland Francisco Meza and Sara Tartof

All doctors with Kaiser Permanente.

doubler wrote:

Roderick Powell wrote:

Derek, did you reach out to Francisco, Sara or Phillip regarding Pasadena?

All I've done was determine his split time from the photo outside the Rose Bowl to the finish. Off the top of the head, I don't know who these people are.

I know he gave his bib to a female, apparently after he finished.

Derek - Have you ever been contacted and threatened with legal action by someone’s “counsel”? It’s always amusing when the perps throw it out there, I guess thinking it will deter you.

I figured Conqur Endurance Group wouldn’t do a thing. It’s a group owned by Frank McCourt who was the worst owner in the history of modern pro sports. MLB forced him to sell because the Dodgers couldn’t make payroll. It’s best to contact the sponsors of LAM. USC Keck is a good target because they’ve had so many scandals and cover ups.

Conqur Endurance

213-542-3000

Conqur Sponsors and Partners

https://goconqur.com/partnerships/

USC Donor Program

Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations

213-821-3502

USC Keck School of Medicine

Director, Donor Relations & Proposal Development

Phone (213) 821-7082

https://www.keckmedicine.org/quality-and-safety/

For immediate attention, please contact patient experience at (323) 442-9516 or by calling our (800) USC-CARE (800-872-2273) and asking for the patient experience office.

Asics signed a 5 year partnership

https://www.asics.com/us/en-us/contact

Skechers (still affiliated until next year)

1-800-746-3411. Please note: We are open Monday through Friday from 8am-5pm.

Cli Bar

https://www.clifbar.com/contact

Fitbit

https://www.google.com/amp/s/gethuman.com/a/phone-number/Fitbit

BIG5 Sports sponsors 5K

https://www.big5sportinggoods.com/store/global/contact.jsp

Frank’s counsel emailed yet? wrote:

doubler wrote:

All I've done was determine his split time from the photo outside the Rose Bowl to the finish. Off the top of the head, I don't know who these people are.

I know he gave his bib to a female, apparently after he finished.

Derek - Have you ever been contacted and threatened with legal action by someone’s “counsel”? It’s always amusing when the perps throw it out there, I guess thinking it will deter you.

No. I am a little surprised given the sheer number of articles. Anyone can hire an attorney to write a cease and desist. Larry Macon is a lawyer. The fact that he has never contacted me is telling. The worst was when the runner that was forging bibs for years issued a takedown notice and I ended up switching hosts and jumping through hoops to get the site back up

I am certain that Francisco is his son, I think Sara could be his daughter in law. Phillip, often wear a Loyola shirt at races. Sara completed Pasadena wearing Frank Meza's bib.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Let’s be clear, what this person has done is bad. Furthermore, he is working in a school setting. He did this to himself. Obviously has some psychological issues. If this tarnished his reputation, it is deserved. Shameful behavior.

What also pisses me off is the true age winners he and other age group cheats have fooked over, now and in the past.

A lot of age group runners started running, or getting serious about running, after they'd raised a family, got on top of their career, etc and had the time to put in some serious training. Then arseholes like this fella come along and take it away, something that would have meant a lot to them, and not in a necessarily egotistical way as seems to be the case with Meza. I seem to remember earlier in the thread that the true age group winner behind one of Meza's sub 3hrs ran 4:10, I wonder what his background and story is?

At least we'll never see Meza doing it again, he's just not capable, even sub 4hr is beyond him.

Yes, truly disgusting behavior.

Start contacting LAM and LBM race sponsors. A

deluge of calls and emails to their big daddy may motivate a race director to DQ a runner.

Smoove wrote:

DQ'ing someone for missing a timing mat doesn't make sense. There was a post earlier on this thread about how nearly 2% of chips have defects and about how they require "line of sight" to work. I don't think that I have ever missed a mat in the middle of a race, but I know that I have missed a mat at the finish line of a race. It was a local race, and I am familiar with the race timing team, and they told me it was because of how I lifted my arms up in front of my bib to stop my watch as I approached the finish line - that was apparently enough to block the transmission to or from the timing mat.

No you cannot DQ for missing a mat, but as an insider (to timing), chip 'defect' (actually not responding) is less than 1 in 100,000

Chip 'failure to read' is different as it is due having the EM signal reach the chip (not line of sight), and is as low as 0.1% at the start of a 40,000 entrant race (mass of people) but they have multiple lines the more people you have, so again it is much less than 1 in 1,000.

Then, yes, the majority of failure to read finish line is due to stopping the watch, usually interference from watch/metal etc rather than straightforward 'blocking'.

These disposables are also pretty robust and can put up with a lot of damage, sweat etc, but as with bib identification of old, you have to wear the bloody thing in the manner the timing company advises otherwise it is your fault.

I usually have repeat offenders (which skews up your misread stats) and often I don't even bother making corrections for them, just leave them out of results, don't waste my time.

From MI comments:

Derrick Maybar

May 29, 2019 at 10:05 am

Hes a known triathlon cheat in the socal area and has been called out at several races.

Frank is an amphibious cheat threat.

1. Running

2. Swimming

3. Biking

I bet he cheats at cards and golf too.

This is what burns me about Dr. Cheater: he cheated the legitimate AG competitors out of their places. This might mean nothing to some, but to others, it is awfully important. If you look at the Phoenix results, the winner of the M70 age group won in 3:49 in 2018. Then he improved to 3:47 in 2019, but "lost" the AG to Dr. Cheater. By almost an hour.

I sure hope you're proud, Frank.

doubler wrote:

For these point to point courses it would not be difficult to drive as close to possible to the timing mat, jump in 1/4 mile before and jump off shortly after crossing, return to your car and repeat.

This is a perfect example of the value of a random video camera or a random timing mat.

He wouldn't be able to do it without another driver 'following him'. If he parked near the 11.62 mile course entry, then took 6':32" to 12.4 mile (or 20km split), meaning he would take at least that long to get back to car, then drive 5km in less than 7min in an urban area.

BTW, Derek, great work. I know the USA is imperial, but if the splits are metric, can't we just leave all measurements metric, it makes it hard to follow and calculate...

It is unbelievable that people would cheat at a race but to try to set world age records takes it to another level. Plus when you take into account that he has been doing it for many years you have one sick puppy. CIM DQing didn’t deter him in the least.

I wouldn’t let this creep within 50 feet of a high school athlete or student. I hope the school tells him to take a hike. I certainly would never take medical advice from this nut.

Golgi Body wrote:

Maybe if the Brojos could be brought on board, they could make a difference. LR.com seems to carry some weight in the running community. If they start referring to the LA marathon as a race that can't be bothered to address cheating, LA mgmt might take notice.

Brojos are busy with some coffee table book controversy and height enhancing shoes