Hi Mike. For someone who says he doesn't care what the "haters" think or say, you certainly act like you do, what with your constant updates to your Facebook account, your deletions of inappropriate and/or incriminating content from your social media accounts, and your pathetic tweets. I am pretty sure your attorney told you to stop posting and tweeting about this situation, it cannot help and it may hurt. Check his emails. They would be from his AOL email address, so they may have gone to your spam folder.
I saw your Father's Day post on Facebook to your father Jim and your Uncle Vince. That got me thinking about how they would feel about you cheating to qualify to run in the Boston Marathon, and then lying about it when you were caught. Would that make them proud? Would they condone cheating and lying? I highly doubt it. I wonder how it feels to know you brought shame on your family name. Rossi mats, needed to deter cheaters. To Rossi something means to cheat by cutting corners. Is that the way Jim raised you? Is that the example Uncle Vince set for you? Again, I doubt it. Unfortunately, that's the example you are setting for your step-children. At least at the end of the day, if and when they find out what you did, they will know that they are not your biological children. Cold comfort, though, when you find out the man you looked up to and called Dad was an unabashed cheater, liar and attention-whore.
When my father died, I know he was proud of me. Sure, I made some mistakes growing up, we all do. But, I grew into an honest, hard-working man. He appreciated that, and told me so when he knew he didn't have much time left. Since his death, I have done nothing that would have embarrassed him.
Likewise, when I die, I am sure my kids will be proud of me. I am what most on these boards would call a hobby-jogger, but I am a dedicated hobby-jogger. I run (jog) six or seven days a week. I got my wife into running, and now we run together many mornings and go to local races together. When we both retire in a few years, we plan to travel across the country and run in local 5Ks. I encouraged my daughter to run, and now she is about to start her sophomore year running xc and track for a D1 school. Although her meets are usually at least 5 hours away, I try to go to all of them. My son runs xc and track for his high school. I make all of his meets too.
Running is a passion in my family. And my family knows that there are no short-cuts if you want to achieve success. But, unlike you, Mike, we define success as working hard, reaching our potential, and earning our result, whether that's winning a race, or finishing 7th in our age group. The sad thing, Mike, is that you know that feeling I am talking about. Despite your lies, we all know you gave your best effort on many, if not all, of your runs. When you saw your time drop from your first real marathon to your second, you felt justifiably proud. But, unfortunately, you also realized you would never be able to accomplish the goal you had of qualifying for Boston. For any normal person, the response would have been to accept reality and change the goal. But, you are wired differently. You decided to cheat your way to Boston. You spent a lot of time planning it out. You knew just where you would leave the course, and where you would get back on. You didn't bring your posse with you (what excuse did you use?) and you dressed so you would not stand out (that had to feel strange for an attention-whore like you). Then, you actually went through with it! How did you feel crossing the finish line, knowing on the one hand that you had a BQing time, but knowing on the other hand that you had cheated to get it. Your finish line photo says it all, as you hung your head in shame.
Well, Mike, in one sense, you lucked out big-time. Even though everyone knows you cheated at LVM, the folks who run the race are incompetent so you got away with it. As a result, you got to run Boston and received a medal that you didn't deserve. I just have one question for you, Mike. How do you think it would make Jim and Uncle Vince feel to know that you are now known internationally as a man who, at the age of 47, cheated to qualify to run the Boston Marathon, and who has been lying about it ever since?
Mike wins?
