Why didn't your original thread take off?
1) No one saw it. Once a thread goes to page two, few read it.
2) The other theory is that runners on here realize that Phoenix Mesa is an aided course. Like St. George's. You get a PR at Phoenix Mesa, you put an asterisk on that PR. It's like all those fast times at Grandma's last year. Flat, but massive tailwind the whole race. LA on the other hand is known to be a tough course, never fast.
roderick rowell [roro] wrote:
Just completed my weekend 20 mile run wearing the new Nike Meza and felt so good, I thought I had only gone a mile or two.
Man I impressed at how well they perform getting in and out of cars!
Phoenix is like the Vaporfly wrote:
Why didn't your original thread take off?
1) No one saw it. Once a thread goes to page two, few read it.
2) The other theory is that runners on here realize that Phoenix Mesa is an aided course. Like St. George's. You get a PR at Phoenix Mesa, you put an asterisk on that PR. It's like all those fast times at Grandma's last year. Flat, but massive tailwind the whole race. LA on the other hand is known to be a tough course, never fast.
You'll never get through to Ro-ro Powell. He has a collection of mistaken beliefs, including:
1) In general, most runners are extremely interested in age-group competition
2) When people go on the LetsRun message boards, they click on all the threads.
That Phoenix Marathon 2:53:54 thread did not go unnoticed by Gene Dykes.
Roderick Powell wrote:
That Phoenix Marathon 2:53:54 thread did not go unnoticed by Gene Dykes.
Nor by me. A reason some of the above posters didn't see it is because it didn't include pics of Emma Coburns butt. You've got to realize 1/2 these guys are in middle school or high school.
Yes I just finished an intense 4 hour session of studying Google maps in my Epic Overreact Meza trainers. No fatigue at all.
kmaclam wrote:
Roderick Powell wrote:
That Phoenix Marathon 2:53:54 thread did not go unnoticed by Gene Dykes.
Nor by me. A reason some of the above posters didn't see it is because it didn't include pics of Emma Coburns butt. You've got to realize 1/2 these guys are in middle school or high school.
:)
Roderick Powell wrote:
Why did everyone miss when I started this thread with this post?
Temporary Cheater Fatigue Syndrome.
Also, just came across this interesting blast from the past, in 'BBC Technology' of all places:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39064735Roderick Powell wrote:
Why did everyone miss when I started this thread with this post?
JustGene killed that thread:
JustGene wrote:
I did, too! And a third earlier in the year. And... I ran a 50K and a competitive marathon on consecutive days just two weeks before my fastest marathon at Jacksonville. Two months between fast marathons really shouldn't raise eyebrows.
Which was in reply to:
Athena1234 wrote:
Frank ran back to back 2:50 somethings within a couple of months of each other at age 70? Ummmm ok.
Speaking of which, it will be XC season pretty soon. Does he return as an assistant coach?
Yes, along with Phillip Bland.
Coach Meza has some company. Most runners are very upbeat, but a majority of the rare liars & haters I met in the 80s now have a Web presence wherein they assure the world that they “coach/mentor” youth. Possibly because their peers can’t stand them!
jesseriley wrote:
Possibly because their peers can’t stand them!
Like this fella, from page 65, and what I thought was a very telling post.
Seems Frank has been on the radar for a long time.
old age fart wrote:
As an former age group competitor, I’ve been aware of his missing timing mats, not showing up on photos except at the start and end since at least 2014. Wrote to officials regrading the unusual results with the no follow thru. He cheated the true age group winners and disillusioned top competitors.
Didn’t see it mentioned , he was DQ from the 2014 Ventura marathon.
Karma takes time but does come around.
Santa Clarita Marathon 2015
Marathon (big time bonk? .. or adjustment)
Runner Details Race Results
Bib: 215
Name: Frank Meza
Gender: M
Age: 66
Hometown: South Pasadena, CA
Overall: 5 out of 347
Men: 5 out of 223
M 65-69: 1 out of 10
Age/Grade: 86.22% Place: 1
Finish: 3:04:48 Pace: 7:03
Chip Time: 3:04:48
Gun Time: 3:07:10
Split Times
5.5 Mile: 36:56 Pace: 6:43
Half: 1:28:29 Pace: 6:45
15.3 Mile: 1:44:33 Pace: 6:50
21.5 Mile: 2:25:02 Pace: 6:45
That means his last 4.7 miles was covered in 39:46, or just under 8:30 pace. In real marathons that people actually run in their entirety, bonks like this do happen. However, it would be surprising given how steady his first 21.5 miles was, even speeding up between 15.3 and 21.5 miles. Of course, it would only really be surprising if he was actually running these races. Presumably what actually happened was he made some kind of miscalculation on his last bit of course-cutting, or was held up for some reason.
One thing that is remarkable to me about Meza is the sheer number of fake marathons he has run. There are a lot of them. It looks like he started in 2009 or so, and has often done 3 or 4 marathons per year. They all seem to be done in similar times (gradually speeding up during that time span), so presumably he cheated in all of them. A marathon entry fee is what, like $150-200 these days? I guess that's not a big deal to an MD. Still, I'm surprised boredom didn't set in after a while. It seems that it would get old, constantly checking out courses for timing mats and places to park and whatever else was involved. But I guess that's just me.
One guess is that he targeted being age 70. Maybe even ran Phoenix because he thought people could be watching him in LAM 2019. He did register for LAM at the last minute. (must not have been aware of the LR Phoenix thread) Or he is just that bold. It still surprises me that nobody was in LA to monitor him. Of course, Derek would probably not be so confident unless he has him nailed. This is a big moment for Derek to showcase his skills.
Golgi Body wrote:
That means his last 4.7 miles was covered in 39:46, or just under 8:30 pace. In real marathons that people actually run in their entirety, bonks like this do happen. However, it would be surprising given how steady his first 21.5 miles was, even speeding up between 15.3 and 21.5 miles.
I had nearly identical splits in my third marathon. Thought I was in better shape than I was after taking too much time off during the winter months. Running 6:45-pace, and all was good until about Mile 22. Ran 3:05.
So that's not too weird. Except I was 22, and he was 66.
It does seem that any hopping on or off the course would have been very obvious. Looks like he was running in third place overall for most of the race, even after starting (crossing the start mat) more than two minutes after the gun.
Wait, more than TWO minutes? It was a small race, and every other runner was across the starting mat within ONE minute. Maybe a last moment run to the potty?
OK, I only compared gun and chip times for first 100 finishers. Scanning the entire list of finishers, I do see 1:20 or so maximum difference. Still, Frank starts quite a while after.
Looks like other media are starting to pick up on Frank:
https://healthpremiere.org/dr-frank-meza-facing-scrutiny-after-record-breaking-marathons/
Alright kids, I know this is a tough race against some of our biggest rivals. They're faster than us. They're stronger than us, but I believe in you guys, and I know that if we work as a team, we can beat them.
Here's what we're going to do. At the start, they're all going to go out hard. Very hard. You let them. Fall back and let them all scramble for position. Then start your watches, but I want you all to wait a full four minutes after the gun to cross the starting line. By then, everyone will be distracted watching the race. Then, you see that grove of trees over there? I want you to hide in that grove of trees right there. That grove of trees is a quarter mile away from the finish. Now I want you to hide in that grove of trees and watch the race carefully. Check your watches and look for witnesses, and when your time comes, I want you to jump in the race and sprint to the finish line. Look tired.
Okay, let's go team! Two Four Six Eight Let's cut the course and lie in wait! Goooo team!