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

2014 ODDyssey Half Marathon 12 weeks out from Lehigh Marathon

Mile Split Chip Time Gun Time Age Age Place Gender Gender Place Pace City State

241 MIKE ROSSI 328 01:47:03 01:47:08 12 M 179 PACE 08:10

soon to be movie! Classic! Nothing would please me more then to see Ari Bitch Slap Rossi till he admits it!

I Can't Stop Following wrote:

I "know" this guy bc of mutual friends etc and am "friends" with him on FB. I hid his feed months ago bc he is just obnoxious about everything all the time. Also if you comment anything that disagrees with him or anything he says he deletes your comments. This has been going on way before all this craziness.

Supposedly he posted on FB about his BQ. Any chance you could put that post on the message board?

pop_pop! wrote:

abingtonrunner wrote:

Just posted by Allentown Morning Call, a local paper of Lehigh Valley.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-lehigh-valley-via-marathon-runner-accused-20150507-story.html

Nice summary of the thread.

10/10

The writer did a great job.

Mike, we all know you are following the thread. Keep fighting buddy!

It's very likely nothing, but on image 42 of that article there's a guy in black stood behind a tree. Are the shorts too long though?

seriously.... wrote:

dreamin wrote:

- Yes there are many narcissistic runners out there, but not in any greater proportion than in the general population.

- No, you don't "kinda need to be narcissistic" to excel in this sport. Not at all. Many elites can serve as examples of that. Don't confuse narcissism with confidence and a will to succeed.

-Many would (and did) react the same way to the principal. Many but not most, as evidenced by the comments on the original story.

So no, I do not agree that's the only difference between "us" and him.

Most narcissists aren't aware (or won't admit) they're narcissists.

Yeah, so? That fact has no bearing on your argument or mine. Do you have a point to make or are you calling me a narcissist?

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not defending Mr. Rossi here. I'm just saying that while it might seem at first blush like the principal would be thrilled at how this is playing out, in reality it just creates new headaches for her. She's been at the helm of a school under controversy for a few weeks now, and just when it seems like it's dying down and things can get back to normal, we get another round of 15 minutes of fame, with requests for comment that she has to deflect. It keeps her pain alive as much as it alleviates it.

AnotherParent wrote:

They are really nice kids, and they didn't start this. For their sake, and the principal's (and ours), it would be great to keep the focus off the school.

Yes. For sure. But, I don't have high hopes for Rosie Rossi to do the same.

I've been following the thread for a while now and "the kids" are not in it other than a peripheral mention to Rosie's actions.

The school's administration should get some private satisfaction out of it though because the letter that got him his 10 minutes of Internet fame was pure nonsense.

Come on dkggpeters, don't be like that. I don't see AnotherParent blaming anyone but Mike for that initial disruptive circus. Parent's post reads to me like a totally reasonable request that we try to avoid causing unnecessary problems for an innocent party. And I'm pretty certain we're all on board with that, right? It's natural to want to make sure that the principal knows about this for the glorious schaedenfreude (that I would feel at least), but that seems good enough. I'm pretty sure most of us on here are happy to let her enjoy the coming spectacle/media firestorm in peace & private. We just want the truth about Mike Rossi.

mileage_man wrote:

dkggpeters wrote:

And who's fault was that? Maybe you need to have a talk with Mike.

Come on dkggpeters, don't be like that. I don't see AnotherParent blaming anyone but Mike for that initial disruptive circus. Parent's post reads to me like a totally reasonable request that we try to avoid causing unnecessary problems for an innocent party. And I'm pretty certain we're all on board with that, right? It's natural to want to make sure that the principal knows about this for the glorious schaedenfreude (that I would feel at least), but that seems good enough. I'm pretty sure most of us on here are happy to let her enjoy the coming spectacle/media firestorm in peace & private. We just want the truth about Mike Rossi.

I am in no way advocating contacting the principle or having the news be at the school. I don't think any one else here is as well. The media will do what they want to do and Mike is to blame for that, not LRC.

No; I believe he had an MRI, which would reveal this. It's not an uncommon overuse injury. I am rather confused about the range of diagnoses from ITBS to patellar tendonitis and now this.

mileage_man wrote:

dkggpeters wrote:

And who's fault was that? Maybe you need to have a talk with Mike.

Come on dkggpeters, don't be like that. I don't see AnotherParent blaming anyone but Mike for that initial disruptive circus. Parent's post reads to me like a totally reasonable request that we try to avoid causing unnecessary problems for an innocent party. And I'm pretty certain we're all on board with that, right? It's natural to want to make sure that the principal knows about this for the glorious schaedenfreude (that I would feel at least), but that seems good enough. I'm pretty sure most of us on here are happy to let her enjoy the coming spectacle/media firestorm in peace & private. We just want the truth about Mike Rossi.

Just to add to that thought, somebody a few pages back was saying that they were emailing the principal to keep her informed of the developments.

The last thing the school administration needs is to have their email inbox overflowing with things that have absolutely nothing to do with the school.

mileage_man wrote:

Come on dkggpeters, don't be like that. I don't see AnotherParent blaming anyone but Mike for that initial disruptive circus. Parent's post reads to me like a totally reasonable request that we try to avoid causing unnecessary problems for an innocent party. And I'm pretty certain we're all on board with that, right? It's natural to want to make sure that the principal knows about this for the glorious schaedenfreude (that I would feel at least), but that seems good enough. I'm pretty sure most of us on here are happy to let her enjoy the coming spectacle/media firestorm in peace & private. We just want the truth about Mike Rossi.

Exactly. We don't need to be emailing the principal.

I'm not even sure why anyone posted about the principal. Nobody is doing anything to draw attention to the school or the kids. Everything is being directed towards Mr. Rossi for his actions.

End of story...

How soon until he admits cheating? I say by the end of the week because his family wants to put this behind them.

pop_pop! wrote:

AnotherParent wrote:

They are really nice kids, and they didn't start this. For their sake, and the principal's (and ours), it would be great to keep the focus off the school.

Yes. For sure. But, I don't have high hopes for Rosie Rossi to do the same.

I've been following the thread for a while now and "the kids" are not in it other than a peripheral mention to Rosie's actions.

The school's administration should get some private satisfaction out of it though because the letter that got him his 10 minutes of Internet fame was pure nonsense.

And that is why I love this story. It captures the American zeitgeist. A parent ignores basic rules and respond by shouting them down. Americans just go crazy for it. Meanwhile he's done nothing but make problems for the school.

This sums it up nicely.

XrayDoc wrote:

No; I believe he had an MRI, which would reveal this. It's not an uncommon overuse injury. I am rather confused about the range of diagnoses from ITBS to patellar tendonitis and now this.

So here's a scary thought:

What if Mike Rossi can no longer run due to injury, so he takes up CrossFit?

We will never, ever hear the end of it.

Pray to the baby Jesus he doesn't also become a vegan.

They aren't mentioned... wrote:

How soon until he admits cheating? I say by the end of the week because his family wants to put this behind them.

I think he'll do it just as fast as Kip did when he was faced with stronger evidence of cheating for a whole bunch of marathons.

I'm looking for the post wrote:

Right now all I've found is the finish line pic from Via with the comment "Holy shit. I did it". There are 51 comments. I'm sorting through them right now to see if he mentions his time.

He posted a pic of his registration for Boston saying "Just registered. Now I wait to see if my time was good enough. (I'm pretty sure it is :)

I can post those pics if you want.

Take screenshots while you can.

Yes, thank you for clarifying, I'm speaking specifically to posts about contacting the principal directly. I think people honestly believe they're showing support by emailing her, but it just creates new issues. I don't mean to imply that this investigation isn't valid or reasonable, and I apologize if it came across that way.

Can you say schaedenfreude again? I love it when you speak French!