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

Cheat Lie Repeat wrote:He is pathetic - he can dish it out but can't take it. Ken's tweets are no worse than his, sure Ken ought not bring his kids into it, but Rossi did so with Cecily's. To call the police is so hypocritical.

If you've dealt with 10 year olds before, you know he'll say "I didn't actually say 'I will kill you'. I didn't say it was Cecily's child, there are lots of kids with that name. I didn't say who I was calling a 'ho'".

Children and childish people think you can clearly communicate something but if it's not exact and explicit you can't convict them of it. Nonsense. If you've communicated it, you've communicated it. There are no technicalities or fingers-crossed to cancel the guilt.

elephino wrote:It's not that hard to pass a bunch of folks in a local road 5k.

I disagree. When you start all the way in the back you are behind lots of walkers who are together with their friends. They are two or three wide. Also, you are expending lots of extra energy and running extra distance each time you pass someone. You have to slow down and speed up a lot, killing your ability to pace yourself. You can't run the tangents either. You definitely aren't going to run a huge PR under those conditions.

elephino, passing 650 runners on a city street in a 5k IS tough and takes a lot of energy to boot. Click the link of the runner that mentioned the loser marathon cheater Mike Rossi (the Mike Rossi that has hair plugs) in her blog about the 5k, she mentioned how crowded the race was and how runners were spread across the road. If he started 42 seconds after it would have been a nightmare getting through. I ran a half a few years ago, was late for the start and didn't make my way up to where I should be, it was horrible, I spent so much time on the sidewalk, half stepping, surging, I finally packed it in and cruised the easy and enjoyed the run.

Rossi cheated at Via and it's almost 100% that he cheated here.

Fat hurts wrote:

elephino wrote:It's not that hard to pass a bunch of folks in a local road 5k.

I disagree. When you start all the way in the back you are behind lots of walkers who are together with their friends. They are two or three wide. Also, you are expending lots of extra energy and running extra distance each time you pass someone. You have to slow down and speed up a lot, killing your ability to pace yourself. You can't run the tangents either. You definitely aren't going to run a huge PR under those conditions.

Exactly, better said than I.

Fat hurts wrote:

elephino wrote:It's not that hard to pass a bunch of folks in a local road 5k.

I disagree. When you start all the way in the back you are behind lots of walkers who are together with their friends. They are two or three wide. Also, you are expending lots of extra energy and running extra distance each time you pass someone. You have to slow down and speed up a lot, killing your ability to pace yourself. You can't run the tangents either. You definitely aren't going to run a huge PR under those conditions.

Also take into consideration the density of the crowd in front of him. If you look at the data you see that he started almost at the back, but not quite. He went off with the flow of the back-of-the-pack walkers. So he had a dense crowd in front of him after he crossed the starting line.

If he had waited for most of the runners and walkers to spread out more it would be more conceivable that he could run less impeded. But that was not the case here. He started with everyone else, he just did it at the back of the pack.

And with $10k on the line, why would anyone start in the very back? If I had the chance to win that much, I'd be up at the front, because I wouldn't want to lose a precious couple of seconds dodging walkers. I would have been one of the first ones to the start to make sure I got a good spot.

multivitamin wrote:

And with $10k on the line, why would anyone start in the very back? If I had the chance to win that much, I'd be up at the front, because I wouldn't want to lose a precious couple of seconds dodging walkers. I would have been one of the first ones to the start to make sure I got a good spot.

Mike obviously had a shoe malfunction. Despite this, he still ran a fantastic race. He is a beautiful runner and man.

Smart Runnr wrote:

multivitamin wrote:

And with $10k on the line, why would anyone start in the very back? If I had the chance to win that much, I'd be up at the front, because I wouldn't want to lose a precious couple of seconds dodging walkers. I would have been one of the first ones to the start to make sure I got a good spot.

Mike obviously had a shoe malfunction. Despite this, he still ran a fantastic race. He is a beautiful runner and man.

I gotta admit, sometimes you crack me up. I'm still chuckling as I write this.

A beautiful runner and man indeed!!

Cheat Lie Repeat wrote:

elephino wrote:

It's not that hard to pass a bunch of folks in a local road 5k. This isn't the NYC marathon.

Moreover, while its not uncommon to pass other racers, we are talking about over 660 other runners, which takes effort at times getting around people and avoiding obstacles.

Here's some pics from the race showing exactly what he would have had to run through:

(I looked up a few of the finish times of runners in the pic and they varied from 26:25 to 32:15, so this must be early in the race.)

Now imagine trying to zigzag through THAT for a PR! You might sprain your ankle even trying. (Too soon?)

Laughable wrote:

Here's some pics from the race showing exactly what he would have had to run through:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208272234743209

(I looked up a few of the finish times of runners in the pic and they varied from 26:25 to 32:15, so this must be early in the race.)

Now imagine trying to zigzag through THAT for a PR! You might sprain your ankle even trying. (Too soon?)

So the people in those pics are running roughly 9 minutes per mile. You are not going to get through that crowd at anything even close to 6:38/mile (Mike's pace based on chip time).

Let's give Mike the benefit of the doubt here and assume that his communication skills are really poor. When he said he made up serious time, it was not an ignorant comment about overcoming the delay between his gun time and chip time. Instead, it was about overcoming a slow first mile because of the crowd. That would make sense: ran a slow first mile because of traffic, made some of it up once the crowd thinned. However, given those pics, he could have easily lost a minute or more in that first mile. At the very least, he would have had to cover miles 2 and 3 well under 6:30/mile.

elephino wrote:

I know I'm in the minority here, but I think it's possible* that he ran the 20:25 legit.

I would say you are in the minority if you think it is likely he ran the 20:25 and I doubt you think it likely.

Is there a possibility? There is definitely a possibility just as there is a possibility he ran the VIA marathon in 3:11:45. Anybody who knows much about running, physiology, and Rossi's previous times (not to mention the missing photos and Rossi's behavior) knows that the VIA marathon is with about 99.99999999999999999999999999999% certainty a fraudulent time. There is a possibility, but it is so small we can say it is negligible or impossible. I think we are all comfortable saying he cheated at VIA (except trolls and Rossi).

With the Turkey Trot, we can't have as much certainty, especially give the lack of official race photography. With both VIA and here we are dealing strictly with circumstantial evidence, but in both cases we are talking about the same individual whom others have eloquently stated, "runs like a duck" and is now known internationally as a cheater. When someone is a known cheater, the burden of proof shifts to them, especially when the performance in question is another outlier.

If he were smarter, he could have had somebody capable of breaking 20 minutes with the same size/build run in "Rossiesque" gear using his bib but obscuring his identity, carrying a Garmin and Rossi's cell phone. He blew his chance at the $10,000, with the stipulations in place now, this deception is not possible... This is what I was concerned he had done this past weekend and is why I personally emailed Rojo and Wejo as others of you did as well.

Someone recently told me "I refuse to find any one guilty of anything based on circumstantial evidence alone." Fortunately, Rojo/Letsrun.com isn't this gutless, gutless like Barb McKeever and VIA were. They were faced with overwhelming evidence Rossi cheated, but circumstantial nonetheless and so they took the gutless route and refused to DQ. Rojo had the guts to take a stand and call a spade a spade plus put his money on the claim. Rossi's performance this past weekend is extremely suspicious, it is up to him to prove he's not a cheater and so far he has failed miserably.

triathleteguru wrote:

Someone recently told me "I refuse to find any one guilty of anything based on circumstantial evidence alone."

The next time you speak to this person ask them how they feel about DNA evidence, many people feel this to be the ultimate in assessing guilt or innocence - what category of evidence is DNA Evidence ?

Mike has a smooth baritone and essence that people naturally recognize, which would have made people move out of the way and make his path much easier.

Also, he has superior lateral mobility. Unlike a typical runner with low body fat and weak abs, Mike has supple sturdy muslces. I have often observed him stretching in the from afar so not as to disturb his athletic mindset. I can confirm that his body is in superb condition.

Smart Runnr wrote:

Mike has a smooth baritone and essence that people naturally recognize, which would have made people move out of the way and make his path much easier.

Also, he has superior lateral mobility. Unlike a typical runner with low body fat and weak abs, Mike has supple sturdy muslces. I have often observed him stretching in the from afar so not as to disturb his athletic mindset. I can confirm that his body is in superb condition.

just a PSA: this is the handle thief, not the real smartrunnr

I swear this thread is the gift that keeps on giving. You could almost make a movie out of this.

triathleteguru wrote:

elephino wrote:

I know I'm in the minority here, but I think it's possible* that he ran the 20:25 legit.

I would say you are in the minority if you think it is likely he ran the 20:25 and I doubt you think it likely.

MikeRoss BAA wrote:

I swear this thread is the gift that keeps on giving. You could almost make a movie out of this.

Don't give Rossi any ideas, he loves attention any way he can get it.

Starring Courtney Love as Barb McKeever

Karma probably gave him that swollen ankle for not even jogging during the cheating

BOWSER wrote:

Long-time lurker. First-time poster. Enjoyed reading most of this thread.

Quick question (may have already been answered and I missed it):

Is it possible that Mike hung towards the back and strolled across the start line with mostly walkers and then pulled out of the course, walked to the finish line area, and then triggered the mat? I think, if I remember correctly, the finish line overlaps the starting area of the course.

In other words, maybe he didn't run at all.