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

Let's make a deal.

You let us know the identity of one of your family members and we'll "investigate" your running by keeping everybody posted on her whereabouts and when she gets into work ok. In return, nobody needs to have a registered name.

Ken went too far despite many many pleas to stop what he was doing and this is what happened. If you blame somebody who had some common sense then so be it.

But think about making that deal ok.

Kip Litton, fraudster, chiming in on the MR fraud. Did you ever run any race in it's entirety?

iiagdtr wrote:

VIA's FB page has new post by them, one like, also by themselves.

I can't imagine something else is not going on with them to keep from DQing the cheater Mike Rossi, a newbie runner who thinks he has fooled anyone other than people more ignorant than himself.

Sheer competence is possible, but given the negative publicity about the cheater Mike Rossi, how could they not see he did indeed cheat and they would benefit from the DQ?

(Mike: "DQ" means "disqualified", not the place the meme says you go to get a blizzard. I know these running terms are confusing to you.)

Do they need to be further embarrassed? Because this is NOT going away.

Unless their registration numbers are down (and I would not assume that they are) I doubt the RD cares.

Even if they have a reputation for not DQing a cheater, Via does a lot of things right. The course, time of year, lack of congestion all make it an attractive marathon for many.

Also, were Via ever to be known as "that marathon that DQed a guy for not having any pictures" that would be much, much worse for them. Of course no one who read the whole story would think that, but so many people are stupid and comment on facebook articles after only reading the headline and sign petitions to get that poor disqualified runner re-instated to the half marathon she actually cheated at. So they may be worried about the negative publicity on the other side.

The RD and anyone else who runs, whether competitively or not, should care. They should care about integrity and integrity of the sport and the time, effort and money spent by those who did not cheat.

Side question for you, how does it feel to start the longest and most epic thread in lets run history?

Reg Fields wrote:

Side question for you, how does it feel to start the longest and most epic thread in lets run history?

It's definitely strange. This is the only thread I've ever started on here, and I only started it because I got bored waiting for one. I accidentally posted it three times, so I was surprised when the posts were something other than making fun of me.

I also don't have a huge amount invested in this thread. I run marathons and I hate cheaters, but I don't know Rossi and I didn't do any detective work here. I read along somewhat and am variously impressed, amused, and somewhat embarrassed by it all.

I do understand your points, but this is a running event and runners are the ones who matter. I think doing the right thing is often unpopular and many pay for being the messengers of truth. So do you lie and cheat and deceive like Mike Rossi and depend on people not to care? Or when you see the lying, cheating, deceiving Mike Rossi and say: "Not in my sport. This is wrong and should be made right."And it's not like any runner here can't see the evidence and take much more than a few minutes to know Mike Rossi cheated. And it makes us wonder why is this so damn hard to get right? Mike is a lunatic to try to argue this with us. It's isn't hard to get this right. Not really. Simply DQ this cheater and move on. Not doing the right thing no matter what the circumstances is the wrong thing to do. VIA stands now on the wrong side, effectively protecting a known cheater in our sport who goes about arrogantly rubbing honest people's noses in his dishonesty. He cheated to get into the Boston Marathon not because of the victims there, but as a way to promote himself and denigrate others, like the principal he did not have the courage to personally send his self-aggrandizing letter to.Mike Rossi is a terrible person, I do not believe he has the ability to see this right from wrong. He knows what he did at VIA, we know what he did at VIA. He cheated and needs to be disqualified.

the twists and turns on this thread have been amazing, and what would be the ultimate?

LMR redeems himself and gets Rossi the DQ he deserves. Becomes a hero while today he is someone you'd cross the street to avoid, Kind of like a bizarro Kaiser Souze', a gimp, someone know one respects nor fears, a loser, an after thought, becomes the star of the show.

Without new garbage Ken posts this thread should slow down significantly. Do we know when Mike is racing again?

Trollminator wrote:

Without new garbage Ken posts this thread should slow down significantly. Do we know when Mike is racing again?

"Racing"? Jogging perhaps but certainly not racing, don't insult real racers and runners. Plus, don't you remember, he wasn't racing, that is trying, in the races he was in except for the LVM. Those are his words, not mine.

I know that I've said this before, but, given the turn in discussion, I'll just reiterate again that I believe now more than ever that Rossi bribed Barb or offered a large donation to the race's charity in order to have his name left in the results. This wouldn't be unprecendented, as other race directors have publicly stated that cheaters have offered them money in exchange for not being disqualified and Rossi is completely obsessed with his self-image and would do almost anything to, in his mind, protect it.

The bribe theory explains why there has been no DQ. If the race were to DQ him now, Rossi might finally realize that he has nothing more to lose and could divulge the whole truth, exposing the race as being corrupt, rather than simply incompetent. Barb McKeever and the VIA Marathon seem to have made the decision that it is better to be viewed as incompetent than as corrupt.

That is my theory, anyhow.

Someone complained there are many other cheaters that we are not giving similar attention to. The amount of attention depends on the level of interest. Generally cheaters will stay out of the spotlight as much as possible when they are caught. People like Kip and Mike however have ego issues in addition to being dishonest. They want to bulldoze the internet and the reaction is always much worse than they expect. Even though I hate cheaters, I understand there will always be a small number who do when there is an opportunity. I would typically not care, but Mike is like the current torch carrier of the cheaters. He's bigger fish than the typical cheater because he brought attention to himself on the back of a bogus BQ. What I can't stand more than cheaters are narcissists. I also understand how much work goes into improving your performance so yes he likely stole a Boston spot from another runner. For anyone who still doubts this, understand that the BAA sets the total number of runners (say 15,000), then they open registration for time qualifiers. Since the demand is always higher than the supply of spots, it's a given that every single spot available will be taken by someone. If you're AG standard is 3:05 and you ran 3:03 there is no guarantee you get in if many more faster qualifiers in your AG register. This is what happens every year. Someone hits the time but doesn't get in because plenty others were a bit faster. So guess what happened in Mike's AG? His fraudulent BQ was faster than someone who hit the qualifying time but was slower than 3:11, so he effectively stole their spot. Yes, others did as well but it doesn't make him any more innocent.

WWRD wrote:

the twists and turns on this thread have been amazing, and what would be the ultimate?

LMR redeems himself and gets Rossi the DQ he deserves. Becomes a hero while today he is someone you'd cross the street to avoid, Kind of like a bizarro Kaiser Souze', a gimp, someone know one respects nor fears, a loser, an after thought, becomes the star of the show.

gatorade&vodka wrote:

Reg Fields wrote:

Side question for you, how does it feel to start the longest and most epic thread in lets run history?

It's definitely strange. This is the only thread I've ever started on here, and I only started it because I got bored waiting for one. I accidentally posted it three times, so I was surprised when the posts were something other than making fun of me.

I also don't have a huge amount invested in this thread. I run marathons and I hate cheaters, but I don't know Rossi and I didn't do any detective work here. I read along somewhat and am variously impressed, amused, and somewhat embarrassed by it all.

Thank you for the answer.

abingtonrunner wrote:

The RD and anyone else who runs, whether competitively or not, should care. They should care about integrity and integrity of the sport and the time, effort and money spent by those who did not cheat.

Well, it's funny you should say that. There is actually a Race Directors Code of Ethics (which is from the Road Runners Club of America) that requires that "Race Directors are expected to conduct themselves ethically, honestly and with integrity in all dealings. This means principles of fairness, good faith and respect consistent with all laws, permit regulations and or internal policies that govern their conduct with others both inside and outside the community."

In looking for any integrity shown, I note the statements given to the media by VIA that they would review the 19,000 photos and speak to the 126 runners who finished near Rossi. Was that just a lie? If they did review the photos, then you would have imagined a very different result (because Rossi isn't in any of them), and how many of those 126 runners did they speak with? We know Rossi cheated, but what is going on at VIA? Where are the ethics, the honesty and then integrity in how they have dealt with this? Refusal to answer questions? Refusal to explain? An odd situation.

He didn't bride anyone. I'm sure they understood quite well there are so many cheaters at VIA every year based on the lack of controls that it would likely open a bigger can of worms and bring attention to the gaps if they decided to DQ him. It's better to slap on a bandaid then to have to wear a cast. Plus there was some pressure from his 2-bit lawyer so I again why complicate matters? Their way of dealing with this fraud was to say they investigated based on some narrow hurdles and to make it look like they are doing something about it by adding mats. Their statement that they did not clear him and the addition of mats is an admission that they know he cheated. Once they have a "successful" 2015 race all the dust will have settled and the Mike Rossi drama will be in the distant past... unless we keep the pressure up.

It could happen, I'd think the probability is far higher than Mike confessing since I am convinced that will never happen. He and Rosie are soul mates.

WWRD wrote:

the twists and turns on this thread have been amazing, and what would be the ultimate?

LMR redeems himself and gets Rossi the DQ he deserves. Becomes a hero while today he is someone you'd cross the street to avoid, Kind of like a bizarro Kaiser Souze', a gimp, someone know one respects nor fears, a loser, an after thought, becomes the star of the show.

Trollminator wrote:

He didn't bride anyone.

I'm not sure what action is performed to bride someone but, as a wedding DJ, Mike Rossi is likely guilty of it.

I also think it likely that he bribed, but have no evidence, only speculation. Even if I'm wrong, who cares? Barb McKeever and the LVM have zero integrity and their non-action opens the door to speculation. I hope that her race director business fails as she is everything that is wrong with the racing scene, which is being taken over by corporate/charity groups, who jack up prices, while turning races into events.

I seriously doubt it would be an out-and-out bribe if it happened, more something like: 'Since you didn't find me guilty of cheating I'd like to make a good faith donation to show there are no hard feelings..."I wonder if we can get a list of their donors? Are they a 501c3? I couldn't tell by looking on their website.

Who has the right to make videos at the race? Is it possible to set up an alternative watch over the next race's results?

Is the race director trustworthy to conduct the next VIA marathon in compliance to the rules, having bent them so obviously to their least discomfort?

Can't two or three letsrunners tape the next edition and we dissect it here?

I am surprised the BAA didn't put pressure on the race director. And USATF neither.

As a runner one assumes that sanctioned races are conducted properly.

All parties involved, BAA and Mrs McKeever and USATF, have been shown to neglect the integrity of the sport.

The next VIA marathon should have independent supervision.