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

I just want to see the pictures for entertainment value. My goodness our man is so brave. He always suffers from a massive injury or loss and is able to run through it against all odds. The one part that is eerily similar to VIA is that he runs a huge PB and doesn't boast about it. Mike must be posting for damage control in his restricted Twitter account now. Rest assured, when the dust settles he'll delete several posts and unblock his account. The question is, how many more attempts will there be before year end? I can't wait for another disaster like this one. Happy thanksgiving

Uzhorod wrote:

Uzhorod wrote:

It would be interesting to see some more pictures popping up on FB from the Turkey-thing. This guy made a race recap but his starting line picture is a bit blurry:

http://ithoughttheysaidrum.blogspot.nl/2015/11/2015-haddon-township-turkey-trot-race.html

Forget it, it's the same picture as on the earlier mentioned blog.

I sorted the data from the race. 743 runners finished. Rossi started way in the back. Only 29 runners started behind him. This means that to run a legit 20:25 and finish 48th, he would have to pass 667 of the runners in front of him.

Nobody weaves past 667 runners to set a big PR in a 5K. He cheated again.

Note: This is the listing of the last several runners to start, based on difference between chip time and gun time. The last column is that difference in seconds.

Place/First Name/Last Name/Num/Chip Minutes/Chip Seconds/Gun Minutes/Gun Seconds/Difference (C - G)

617 KEVIN MENDEZ 287 36 11 37 1 50

385 DAIANNE MENDEZ 286 29 14 30 3 49

707 GABE FANELLE 116 42 45 43 34 49

708 CHRISTI FANELLE 115 42 45 43 34 49

553 DANYLE HEILIG 597 34 23 35 11 48

625 MICHAEL D'ANTONIO 722 36 36 37 24 48

523 WILLIAM MCCABE 270 33 18 34 5 47

552 COOPER HEILIG 596 34 23 35 10 47

556 CHRIS HEILIG 595 34 25 35 12 47

585 CHRISTOPHER PEDDICORD 338 35 17 36 3 46

650 LAUREN STOLZER 406 37 41 38 27 46

654 KRISTINE HIBBS 189 37 48 38 34 46

655 BARBARA ROSS 372 37 49 38 35 46

399 CHRIS AKIN 618 29 42 30 27 45

658 KRISTEN HEANEY 180 38 0 38 45 45

734 ERIN KAIGHN 208 52 16 53 1 45

735 KENDRA WILLIAMS 450 52 23 53 8 45

737 LORETTA MORRISON 305 52 39 53 24 45

213 TJ BRUZEK 628 25 46 26 30 44

504 MAUREEN SHANNON 389 32 39 33 23 44

554 DECLAN HEILIG 598 34 27 35 11 44

657 PATRICK HEANEY 181 38 0 38 44 44

741 JOE POWELL 350 57 38 58 22 44

365 FRANCIS RYAN 377 29 0 29 43 43

419 JONATHAN HEIMALL 183 30 8 30 51 43

516 HEATHER D'ANTONIO 83 33 14 33 57 43

517 HALEY PHILPOTT 348 33 14 33 57 43

691 DENNIS ROSARIO 589 40 32 41 15 43

736 EMLYN WILLIAMS 449 52 28 53 11 43

48 MICHAEL ROSSI 373 20 25 21 7 42

271 DAVID CULBERT 73 27 6 27 48 42

502 LAUREN HEIMALL 184 32 36 33 18 42

549 KAREN MARCHESE 263 34 27 35 9 42

550 DENNIS MARCHESE 262 34 27 35 9 42

581 DENEE GABLE 137 35 18 36 0 42

692 ADY IWANO 199 40 33 41 15 42

730 DEANAEARLAND PEREZ 109 49 22 50 4 42

742 ALEX ROCHA 366 57 51 58 33 42

487 NICK PAPAIOANNOU 476 32 24 33 5 41

501 CARI HEINZEL 502 32 37 33 18 41

512 PJ MULROY 472 33 3 33 44 41

627 MATTHEW DOWNHAM 469 36 52 37 33 41

646 JOHN SHANNON 388 37 41 38 22 41

743 CARMEN ROCHA 367 57 52 58 33 41

147 ELIZABETH PEDDICORD 339 23 46 24 26 40

221 CLAIRE ABERNATHY 533 26 3 26 43 40

325 AIMEE ZABEL 463 28 26 29 6 40

489 SAM JOHNSON 475 32 26 33 6 40

510 ASHLEY MUNZ 473 33 2 33 42 40

511 KYLE RANSHAW 474 33 3 33 43 40

524 DAN RUSSELL 376 33 25 34 5 40

612 DAN MEYERS 551 36 11 36 51 40

649 DONNIE GAMBLE 139 37 46 38 26 40

681 KELSEY DOWNHAM 468 39 55 40 35 40

The fear of not having a better opportunity is what did him in at VIA. He knew the gaps would become smaller and smaller as the slower runners start to come in so he freaked out and jumped in way too early. If he slowed he would get caught by the runner behind him who might realize he cheated so he had to keep pace until the finish. At a 5k it's much harder but I'll say he probably jumped in at the right time, the problem is he couldn't keep the fast pace and never hit the sub 20. I just can't get over how stupid this guy is.

Trollminator wrote:

The question is, how many more attempts will there be before year end?

None, year end is nearly here and with that rolled ankle he's now got an excuse. Just see him now telling anyone who cares to listen "Yeah, I was on track and training well after my hip problem and gradually bringing my times down, even got down to a 21:07 PR so the next one was going to be it, sub 20, but the friggin ankle you know..."

Once we have more pictures we'll be able to confirm whether the guy in the black cap and black shirt was Rossi. If it was him, he was a few seconds from the start mat making that time differential even more suspect. Stay tuned!

Ding ding ding

PhiI McCrackin wrote:

even got down to a 21:07 PR

Sorry Mike, 20:25.

Correction, 20:15 according to one of his tweets

PhiI McCrackin wrote:

PhiI McCrackin wrote:

even got down to a 21:07 PR

Sorry Mike, 20:25.

Fat hurts wrote:

I sorted the data from the race. 743 runners finished. Rossi started way in the back. Only 29 runners started behind him. This means that to run a legit 20:25 and finish 48th, he would have to pass 667 of the runners in front of him.

Nobody weaves past 667 runners to set a big PR in a 5K. He cheated again.

You've nailed it.

Trollminator wrote:

Once we have more pictures we'll be able to confirm whether the guy in the black cap and black shirt was Rossi. If it was him, he was a few seconds from the start mat making that time differential even more suspect. Stay tuned!

If it was him maybe you won't see him because he'll be crouched down dealing with his "shoe malfunction" before he crossed the start timing mat.

Trollminator wrote:

Once we have more pictures we'll be able to confirm whether the guy in the black cap and black shirt was Rossi. If it was him, he was a few seconds from the start mat making that time differential even more suspect. Stay tuned!

Lots made about where Mike was standing when he took this photo.

It's clear Mike is standing on the far left side of the starting chute. The perspective of the photo is also from well above the crowd. Is Mike tall enough to take a picture with his arm stretched high, or is he standing on the curb? Notice the guy wearing the yellow shirt and white hat standing above the crowd - He looks like he would have the same view of the crowd as in Mike's pic. So did Mike stand up on the curb for the start, wait there until the crowd went by, then jump down and casually join the stragglers at the end?

The theory that he jumped in too late for security reasons or couldn't keep his pace sounds reasonable.

However, wouldn't it be possible that he did not actually aim for a sub 20? There would be no way he could collect the 10.000 based on the lack of evidence he actually ran the whole thing. What would there be to win with a sub 20? Only to play the victim from getting rejected by the BroJos? A sub 20 would probably only lead to more publicity and more scrutiny of his effort. And then it would also be more likely someone remembers a Man in Black exiting and entering the course. Even at this smallish race.

Regardless of all that, it seems extra sad that Mike probably felt the need to cheat at a race where we actually was brought up.

PhiI McCrackin wrote:

Fat hurts wrote:

I sorted the data from the race. 743 runners finished. Rossi started way in the back. Only 29 runners started behind him. This means that to run a legit 20:25 and finish 48th, he would have to pass 667 of the runners in front of him.

Nobody weaves past 667 runners to set a big PR in a 5K. He cheated again.

You've nailed it.

Elizabeth Peddicord also did some weaving. Not as much as Mike though.

Mike knows there is no way he can actually collect $10000 from the Brojos because he knows he can't run sub 20 and he knows they aren't going to shell out that kind of money without hard evidence he actually ran it.

He also knows he couldn't sue them for the money because that could lead to his race being investigated, and it could be proved he cheated and he could potentially get in trouble for fraud.

So, why is he trying to cheat to run sub 20? Because he wants to win the PR war. He wants the sub 20 for his ego as well, but if he can say that he came back from "injury" to meet one of the challenges laid out it must mean he was capable of that 3:11 after all. Real runners would know better, but I doubt any real runners are friends with Rossi at this point anyway. Furthermore, he could claim that the Brojos welched on the bet and use it to attack their credibility.

And, perhaps the biggest motivation of all, I have a feeling that Rossi gets off on planning these perfect little "crimes". Scouting out courses, getting his timeline set, deciding when/where to get photos on site, etc. He probably thinks he is outsmarting everyone despite the fact that he is a terrible cheater. One could have argue that he did get to run Boston so he got away with his cheating at LVM, but considering his reputation is in the absolute crapper as a result I'd say he gets a big FAIL on that one. He thinks wearing his Boston Marathon gear is giving us the finger and showing us that he "wins". All it does is remind people that he is a despicable cheater though. Sometimes when you win, you really lose Mikey.

Trollminator wrote:

Is it possible I spotted our man!? Scroll almost halfway down the page to the start picture with the turkey mascot. In the next photo down, there is a tall runner at the front wearing a yellow jersey. In the next photo down, above/behind this runner you see a guy in a green long sleeve shirt snapping a photo/video. Look at the guy directly in front of him... black cap (Boston emblem?), sunglasses, looking down and black shirt... We can also see his head in the next photo down on the left side behind the guy with the white visor. Any chance that's him? If so something even fishier went down.

triathleteguru wrote:

Here's a race report with a few pictures of the start from this year:

https://novelrunner.wordpress.com/2015/11/28/thanksgiving-food-and-haddon-township-turkey-trot-5k-race-recap-2102/

Logo is too big, but there is a guy in the third picture who disappears in the fourth pic. He is wearing green (same color as the Boston shirt Rossi wore) and a black Nike ( Rossi wears one ). In the fourth picture the green shirt guy is out of the frame, but you can see most if not all the others. Focus on the girl in purple and just gaze up slowly and you will see him. I can totally see Rossi wearing his Boston shirt as sticking it to the "haters."

How honorable of you to refrain from naming a person you believe did something unethical (which everybody knows is idiotic).

Can you please tell us why you like to post the names of small children and hope they do poorly in school and have no friends.

Ken you please tell us how not to be a bully? Fcking with children who can't defend themselves as an adult? Nah, you a PIECE OF SHIT!

LOL!

Fat hurts wrote:

I sorted the data from the race. 743 runners finished. Rossi started way in the back. Only 29 runners started behind him. This means that to run a legit 20:25 and finish 48th, he would have to pass 667 of the runners in front of him.

Nobody weaves past 667 runners to set a big PR in a 5K. He cheated again.

Excellent analysis and point! I've added this to my post, I hope that is ok?

I haven't followed this as close as many, so since you guys were looking for him in photos I googled Rossi to see some pics and was shocked at how familiar he looked...

http://tinyurl.com/q5vuo98

I can't wait to see what the excuses are when the Twitter feed goes live again.