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

Stop moaning and do this!! wrote:

PR Form wrote:

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.

This. We are on the biggest running messge board in the world. If we can't collectively bring L.A to do the right thing then nothing can.

Deluge them with emails and publicity and they will have to act. An email with links to this thread and Doubler's articles to The L.A Times might act as something of an ethical laxative. I am sure news outlets will be interested in picking this up, seeing as it's a putative "world recorde holder" caught with his hand in the cookie jar. And a "world record holding" doctor to boot.

I think it's beyond silly to suggest that corporations advertising their goods and services at a big, happy parade through the streets of LA should suddenly seek to focus everyone's attention on some pathetic downer story about a 70-year-old man who, for whatever reason, may be darting in and out of these kinds of events to achieve more credibility within whatever little community he's trying to impress. And even if the world at large cared at all about road-racing records for various categories of old people, this particular event was held on a point-to-point course with a massive net elevation drop, so those of us who take this stuff really seriously wouldn't recognize Frank Meza's performance as anything close to a world record. It's merely a highly dubious claim to a very impressive accomplishment.

Aside from perhaps getting age-group awards (if there are any) into the proper hands, I don't see any pressing reason for the LA marathon to come to any quick conclusions about what Frank Meza did. Things will get resolved soon enough.

The psychology of it all is not fascinating, not to me anyways.

It's elementary on too many levels to count as it can be done so easily. It's ego, pure ego but some people take it way too far as this chap has appeared to do.

I highly doubt he could hold that pace for any length of time on his best day, not even a half marathon.

He never mentioned that he had stopped to take a pee, not once, till confronted with indisputable evidence. Then it's plan B, I had to take a pee but just for a few seconds.

Now it'll be a different excuse. I took a pee but forgot to mention that I walked down the sidewalk parallel to the race course because I felt that I might have to go again...wait for it as I promise you it's coming. Think like a cheater and you'll come up with a rolodex of excuses.

If there was a camera across the street and it showed him just standing there for several minutes, he'll then say that he forgot to mention that he had a dizzy spell and was slightly incoherent, hence not remember how long he stood there for.

But...there's no video of him LEAVING the course to take his pee. Wait for it...

He walked the course over a half a mile on the sidewalk prior to the point where the camera shows him jumping back in, so he did nothing wrong as he can't be proven wrong. Again, wait for it.

If witnesses came forward and saw him on a bike or getting out of a car---->"It wasn't me"

Cheaters usual lie for a living. Book mark it as my theories will come to fruition soon. Wait for it;)

Apparently you don't know the definition of the word marathon (although I highly doubt it...), here you go:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon It's not a parade. You *can* walk but you definitely need to complete the distance. I'm not from LA (actually probably what you refer as the "world at large") and I do care for the achievements. They inspire people around the world and it's the reason (among others) why the true record holders are recognized and followed. I am pretty sure anyone can choose from a thousand parade events in LA instead of deliberately cheating, but that would not bring you any recognition would it? If all of this is that silly and not important why do we even bother to measure the finish time? I am sure all top american runners will be delighted that the fat old neighbor may run only the last km in a 5000m race and beat them all. See how silly that sounds? That's pretty much how your post sounds to me.

LA parade wrote:

I am sure all top american runners will be delighted that the fat old neighbor may run only the last km in a 5000m race and beat them all. See how silly that sounds?

Yes, now that you mention it, that does sound pretty silly.

Thanks for the link to the wikipedia entry for "marathon," but it was kind of long, so I didn't read it.

Avocado's Number wrote:

Thanks for the link to the wikipedia entry for "marathon," but it was kind of long, so I didn't read it.

Did you take shortcuts? Maybe Frank has the same issue.

That would indeed be sad if he rationalized it as "Cheating for the Children." It would make a great singlet though. As far as his age, I think that's one of the keys to him getting away with it for so long. If you report a little old man for cheating, he isn't the villain, you are. I really think that people have seen him for the past decade hopping off and on the course, have thought it was weird or suspicious, and then given him a pass.

Someone should publish a book about all of the "infamous" serial cheaters... I think many, beyond endurance athletes, would find it to be a good read. Drama, mystery, intrigue, and hell, there's got to be a romantic aspect in there somewhere...

The cheating backstories backstories in and of themselves are fascinating, and I think it'd be really interesting to delve more into the psychology/reasons behind the "why." Many are suggesting that it's simply ego, but I strongly suspect each story is more interesting than that. In certain instances, there are people who have seemingly accomplished A LOT outside of athletics, but still, for whatever reason, have a drive to cheat at a hobby.

Time for Justice wrote:

Someone should start with LA Times sportswriter Eric Sondheimer who has breathlessly covered Loyola HS XC and it’s coaching staff with fawning coverage for years.

i agree, reaching out to sondheimer is definitely a really good way to go about this.

Glad you're back Derek!

Yes, as much as I would love to see all of these kinds of rules enforced -- and I really have very little sympathy for competitors who are disqualified for violations as common as unauthorized pacing or other assistance, to say nothing of flagrant course-cutting -- it's asking a lot of anyone to police everyone, especially in these mega-events. And, of course, it's so important to get this stuff right.

ExpertKipWatcher wrote:

Avocado's Number wrote:

Thanks for the link to the wikipedia entry for "marathon," but it was kind of long, so I didn't read it.

Did you take shortcuts? Maybe Frank has the same issue.

Are there Cliff Notes for Wikipedia pages?

Seems like the guy is an unethical runner, and you do have to wonder how much his willingness to cut the course in races carries over to cutting corners in life; but, at the same time, is this really a situation that requires affirmative action beyond that which has already been taken? I think contacting the race director is pretty much the ultimate step here. The only other thing that I would even really consider is identifying the second, third and fourth place age group finishers and reaching out to them to let them know about this so that they can decide whether or not to take further action as they are the ones who were ultimately cheated the most by this guy.

Agree with this 100% and then some!

Avocado's Number wrote:

I really have very little sympathy for competitors who are disqualified for violations as common as unauthorized pacing or other assistance, to say nothing of flagrant course-cutting . . .

Most these violations are akin to jaywalking to me. They are technically violations, but more often than not, there are no real victims here beyond the sanctity of rules.

Take unauthorized pacing for example. If I pay an entry fee and pace someone during a race, there is no violation. If I don't pay the entry fee, then it is a violation. While this rule protects the race organizers - and we can talk about that as a separate issue - there is no difference in those two situations when it comes to the outcome of the race. I have personally seen American records set with registered, but not race-sponsored, in race pacers setting the pace for the record setter. The pacers did not hand the athlete any water or gels or anything else, they just set the pace.

Take unauthorized assistance as another example. Elites get to have in-race access to water bottle tables, but the rest of us do not. That makes total sense to me - the logistics of having 40,000 individuals' water bottles on tables is simply impossible. But if someone standing in the crowd is offering passers-by bottles of water, or if another guy in my race has an extra gel or salt tablet and decides he doesn't want it and gives it to me, is that really any different?

We can argue the "if everyone does it then it will make races an absolute nightmare with too many people on the course, too may resources being consumed, too many people weaving around to get aid, etc." And there is something to that in some of my examples, but that is more of a logistical concern than a philosophical one. Again, I will make the jaywalking comparison. If the violator is thoughtful about what they are doing - checking both ways and crossing only when it is clear, or, in the case of a race, a bandit not taking water or gels on the course or an athlete not running wildly across the course to meet some person to get a gel - much of those concerns can be ameliorated.

Very Interesting. wrote:

Lip Kitten wrote:

I could not watch this whole video. After Frank brags about breaking the age 66 US Record (I think this is his alleged PR set in crazy heat), the first person paying tribute actually says "Frank Meza is the real deal. He walks the walk after talking the talk."

If you hover on the "Likes" button on Frankies Tribute video, Surprise Surprise the top "like" is none other than Roderick Powell.

What say you Roderick? This was pretty buried on the Internet and from four years ago.

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this is the real smoking gun!!!!!!!!!

Ultra or Die wrote:

this is the real smoking gun!!!!!!!!!

What is??????????????

Your a super sleuth. (not) You are a miserable troll. You do not even have a name, just many cowardly alias's. To address your claim. Is there some problem with "liking" a video. That video has two versions. A short one about a minute long, and a longer one about 5 minutes long. It is only fairly recently that I have seen the 5 minute version. The 5 minute version is significantly more interesting than the 1 minute version. It IS tough to not feel ill, knowing what I know now about Frank Meza's seemingly strange hobby. I am surprised that so few caught on to Frank Meza's amazing times sooner than this thread. AND those that noticed kept it mostly to themselves. The critics from back to CIM, mostly grumbled among themselves, accomplishing not much. If I had not started this thread, Frank Meza would be running Long Beach and breaking the WR 70-74 and maybe getting it approved. That is actually a disappointment, I had been looking forward to that happening. Who would have thought this thread would take the turn that it did. Especially after the 2:53:54 thread attracted so little attention. So again miserable troll, seriously...what is your issue?

Make it really absurd wrote:

It's impossible that LAM can ignore what's going on.

Is it possible Frank has no idea what's going on? Aside from the contact where he threatened to call a lawyer.. if no one is speaking directly to him and he doesn't sit on LetsRun all day, he could just be an old, senile man going about his business oblivious to all of this.

Kip Litton's scandal came out in the New Yorker, which people who aren't even into running, read all over the country. In our little LetsRun bubble, it's huge news. For him, it might be "some guy contacted me saying I was cheating.. thankfully he went away" and that's all he knows.

Apologies for reposting this long narrative (well, sort of), but this was an interesting and informative post from someone in the know and worth a first or even second read. I'm really surprised we haven't had more posts from people who know Frank Meza posting here, either in the negative or positive, I wonder why this would be? If you've come here for the first time and this page is your intro to the thread and you know Meza, or know somebody who does who's passed info on to you, please enlighten us as it's all really intriguing, especially to the amateur psychologists here.