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

Me too. From now on, I'm just going to lurk quietly and wait...kind of like Rossi must have done for nearly 3 hours in the middle of a race. Thanks to (most) of the great posters and the site administrators for hosting.

People also love it when there is a charity aspect to redemption - so Mike, how about a large donation to a beloved Boston charity?

How about Team Hoyt's charity. For people who really know about perseverance and overcoming obstacles.

It seems to me that the next generation of cheaters are going to have to cheat at shorter distance races to build up their "resume" before doing what Rossi did. Think about it, if he had comparable times on athlinks to his marathon pace would anyone have even taken the tomato look at race photos?

Mike, since you didn't think of this ahead of time it's now time for to come clean. This is going to get real ugly real fast once the mainstream media picks this story up and I think we are almost at that point.

Ok, here it is a day later, my right index finger is sore from clicking and scrolling through this thread, but the pain is soooo worth it! Thank you, Rojo, for the ruse that caught the pro-Mike trolls! That has to be the highlight of the thread. Matlock, MacGyver, Colombo, and Sherlock would be proud of you!

I believe the tipping point was the Yahoo sports news article. That was the magical moment when this story crosses a threshold, and spreads like wildfire. To come clean and regain control of the story, and hence his own narrative is the only option. I'm certain he will come clean.

Reg fields wrote:

Mike, since you didn't think of this ahead of time it's now time for to come clean. This is going to get real ugly real fast once the mainstream media picks this story up and I think we are almost at that point.

Plausible wrote:

ducks off course at the same relay change (lot of relay runners ducking off/on so won't be conspicuous), drives to final relay change, ducks back in (same MO as first change), runs to finish, walks back to car, home to loving wife and kids and adulation of his radio fans, etc.

Someone somewhere has photos of him, they just don't realize it, when his cheating goes totally mainstream viral hopefully they will.

p00pbreathbillionaire wrote:

I believe the tipping point was the Yahoo sports news article. That was the magical moment when this story crosses a threshold, and spreads like wildfire. To come clean and regain control of the story, and hence his own narrative is the only option. I'm certain he will come clean.

Reg fields wrote:

Mike, since you didn't think of this ahead of time it's now time for to come clean. This is going to get real ugly real fast once the mainstream media picks this story up and I think we are almost at that point.

I'm confident that he won't. Arrogant dbag, pot committed, and a one in 11,000 chance of not being photographed fuel him.

sdkljdfksdafkj wrote:

How about Team Hoyt's charity. For people who really know about perseverance and overcoming obstacles.

Team Hoyt is definitely worthwhile, Achilles as well. There are quite a few self-serving individuals who make their living off their charities whilst proposing to serve the disabled, worth a separate thread on that. Some find Boston itself a goldmine for their operations. Stop me. Now.

Yeah, don't kid yourself. If you haven't run a half-marathon or more, you don't give a poop.

Ask people (non-runners) in your office tomorrow if they are following this - it's not on their radar.

99% of the population has no idea what a BQ is - they don't care if a nobody cheated on a race last year in a location they couldn't locate on a map - and didn't win any money.

True but ask any runner, especially marathoners. He will have a reputation that will hound him forever. I don't think many here will forget.

I've been thinking about the Rossi psychology, I think it is deeper than that. Rossi realizes he isn't in his prime and wanted to prove to himself he is still a strong man. This motivation sublimated itself in running and qualifying for Boston. Narcissists often need to construct their identity from outwards in, relying on how they are perceived by others. A BQ is a benchmark that serves as this external source of validation.Rossi's physique from the ALS challenge youtube video linked earlier reflects a well-built and well developed middle age man. I've seen tons of these guys, most of them are on TRT; testosterone replacement therapy. Elevated testosterone from TRT can do wonders to boost confidence-- it will make a brave man braver, a douchier man more of a douche, etc. It gives you courage to take bigger risks. This was a poorly calculated risk of the mid-life crisis testosterone replacement therapy man.

yarboughs wrote:

p00pbreathbillionaire wrote:

I believe the tipping point was the Yahoo sports news article. That was the magical moment when this story crosses a threshold, and spreads like wildfire. To come clean and regain control of the story, and hence his own narrative is the only option. I'm certain he will come clean.

I'm confident that he won't. Arrogant dbag, pot committed, and a one in 11,000 chance of not being photographed fuel him.

Use the Portapotty! wrote:

Ask people (non-runners) in your office tomorrow if they are following this - it's not on their radar.

YET.

Which is the whole point that's eluding you.

No comment on the subject of the thread. His lawyering tactic worked for me. I don't have the resources of LRC to defend a frivolous suit. I just want to know the truth on this matter. My opinion, I'll keep to myself.

It seems to me that the next generation of cheaters are going to have to cheat at shorter distance races

BUT addressing this comment in general.

No! Let's squash this now. We don't need a bunch of cheats in 5ks!

They need to stay out of all races.

Investigating cheats this way is kind of like the biological passport for doping.

Call it the athlinks-VO2Max passport for detecting cheatecn.

The best way to beat bio-passport is to all of a sudden become great.

Similarly, the best way to beat at the new athlinks-V02Max passport is to run no other races.

If they cheat the smaller races, at some point they'll get caugh. Best to just run that one marathon.

m runner wrote:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mikerossi.blogspot.com/

Wow. 30-40mph headwinds the whole way at Boston this year. I hadn't heard. Maybe his 4:03 actually was equivalent to a 3:11.

"As for the race, the weather was, well...just terrible...cold, rain and 30-40 MPH winds in our faces. One veteran Boston Marathon runner told me it was the worst he's ever seen."

Guess the veteran ran it last year. Ha. It wasn't that bad this year. I felt the wind 2 or 3 times, but I'd take it anyday over the heat of 2012 which I missed.

m runner wrote:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mikerossi.blogspot.com/

I just read his blog for the first time. On March 29 he was writing about running a 5K with some back/hip soreness, and he said:

"I even had a pretty decent time (22:19)."

There is no way a 3:10 marathoner is going to say a 22 minute 5K is a decent time. It's almost his alleged marathon PR pace! I've been in and out of shape my entire running career, and I probably couldn't break 3:20 as we speak, and at no point would I ever have been satisfied with a 22:19 5K. That should be a jog for him.

I wouldn't personally bring that 4:03 into comparison. Boston is tricky in many aspects when it comes to race day execution, and I've bonked far worse with GI issues there before: something like 4:30 there in the past when my best performance was more like 2:57. The wind was mentally discouraging this year, but it's not nearly as horrendous as other people say.

That said, the 3:11 does look like an outlier. At marathon distance, anything goes, but you're much less likely to bonk in shorter distances. The man's results in 10K and half marathon does not suggest a level of fitness that can attain 3:11 marathon. I'd expect a half marathon time of somewhere around 1:30 for that. I'm not totally certain, but I'm just gonna say that it looks suspicious.

I don't understand the psychology of these cheaters. Does it genuinely give them the jollies to brag about this kind of stuff on social media, when they know inside there's zero substance to it and it's all empty? I wouldn't ever be able to fool myself into believing "yes, i did it, that was awesome!"