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

LMR wrote:

...And the reason I push back against this bully with a bit more fervor is because I'm one of the few people on here who doesn't hide behind a screen name ...

..Some of us are standing up to a bully and a cheat and aren't afraid if Mike knows who we are. Everybody else is just a troll.

Two things.

One, weren't you outed? I thought Mike revealed your identity. It isn't like you unmasked yourself.

Two, I'm not a troll. I'm not Mike or one of his "minions" either. I live in California and I read this post after my morning run while eating breakfast or at the gym in the evening when riding the bike. I admit it, I am completely fascinated by the thread. The cheating, the denials, the tangents, they all provide an amazing view into the soul of mankind.

Yes, I agree with you. I think the 20 minute 5k was a bad idea, not because it's the "easiest" goal, which it isn't, but because it is the one that requires the least amount of training volume, which does make it the most attainable.

But the biggest mistake of the 5k challenge is that it's actually the easiest to cheat, as 5ks don't have intermediate timing mats.

Over the last three weeks of the year, there aren't that many races in the area. Most are run by the same timers (D&Q, Races2Run, LMSports, Lin-Mark). My guess is they want nothing to do with him and he will avoid a professionally timed race.

That should reduce the options.

EZPass Mike wrote:

Over the last three weeks of the year, there aren't that many races in the area. Most are run by the same timers (D&Q, Races2Run, LMSports, Lin-Mark). My guess is they want nothing to do with him and he will avoid a professionally timed race.

That should reduce the options.

Pretzel city has one on a golf course close to him on Dec. 26th. That has to be a cheaters paradise.

ExpertKipWatcher wrote:

BeLikePre wrote:

Let me translate: a sub 20 fraudulent effort is planned within the next 28 days.

Shall we take bets

Same M.O. as Turkey Trot - hang around at the start with concealed chip, cross the line then hang around by the finish.

Simple course cut.

Run, Bike, Run.

Some incredibly complex accomplice theory involving someone who he may have met once.

I don't think he'll make the same mistake as last time. This time it will be back to the basics of course cutting.

HotTubTimeMachine wrote:

EZPass Mike wrote:

Over the last three weeks of the year, there aren't that many races in the area. Most are run by the same timers (D&Q, Races2Run, LMSports, Lin-Mark). My guess is they want nothing to do with him and he will avoid a professionally timed race.

That should reduce the options.

Pretzel city has one on a golf course close to him on Dec. 26th. That has to be a cheaters paradise.

Pretzel City guys are awesome (funny as anything). I think they would DQ Rossi for parking his car.

EZPass Mike wrote:

Pretzel City guys are awesome (funny as anything). I think they would DQ Rossi for parking his car.

But in fairness it has to be handy to get to from the start, give a guy a break.

Of course no chance he gets close to even a 22min (wasn't he injured recently and then stuck on a boat for a whole week without training) if he runs honestly. I doubt he will attempt anything soon given all the bad press, but can totally see him trying to hit the mark down the road to "show everyone up"

ExpertKipWatcher wrote:

EZPass Mike wrote:

Pretzel City guys are awesome (funny as anything). I think they would DQ Rossi for parking his car.

But in fairness it has to be handy to get to from the start, give a guy a break.

Are they not impressed with his Internet Tough Guy posturing? Scared the doughnuts out of Barb McKeever and makes rojo a little nervous.

EZPass Mike wrote:

Pretzel City guys are awesome (funny as anything). I think they would DQ Rossi for parking his car.

Thanks for sharing that . The guy is so obviously faking that.

So he races a 5k at 6:34 pace. All out. But we are supposed to believe two days before the race he was able to run 5miles at 6:40 pace. A 5 miler at 6:40 pace is equivalent to a 20:06 5k according to the McMillanc calculator.

So Rossi is racing slower than he runs in practice?? That makes no sense.

The post below (with race time) also proves he made that up.

So does this link:

https://support-en-us.nikeplus.com/app/answers/detail/article/nikerunapp-edit/a_id/52979

So to sum up: Rossi faked a training log to try to prove he could run 20:25.

He cheated at a Turkey Trot 5K to get that 20:25 time to try to prove that he could run a 3:11 marathon.

He cheated at the marathon to qualify for Boston.

He wrote some BS, self-serving letter to a high school principal after running Boston and that is when we all discovered he cheated to qualify.

Life is good, right Mike!?

5 Miles at 5K pace. C'mon, everyone knows that workout!

Into each life a little rain must fall but jeese Mike has created his own epic sh*tstorm. Well we have the answer to that!http://shop.heatsheets.com/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=bostonponcho

rexthebex wrote:

So to sum up: Rossi faked a training log to try to prove he could run 20:25.

He cheated at a Turkey Trot 5K to get that 20:25 time to try to prove that he could run a 3:11 marathon.

He cheated at the marathon to qualify for Boston.

He wrote some BS, self-serving letter to a high school principal after running Boston and that is when we all discovered he cheated to qualify.

Life is good, right Mike!?

Reg Fields wrote:

LetsRun should be an inclusive environment so saying Mike doesn't run isn't accurate at all. As a pioneer transmarathoner Mike is leading a movement. One day we will all look back and laugh at how intolerant some were to transmarathoners. As for Ken, well you got me there.

This is awesome. I've talked to a bunch of other runners about Rossi and this thread. I've never asked them if they post on LRC, I don't know if they do or not. I feel like asking someone if they post on LRC is just something you don't do. The closest I came to telling anyone I did was when a runner I don't know very well mentioned "transmarathoner", I burst out laughing. I was going to tell him that was my post, but, I feel like the "LRC world" and the "real world" should never meet.

Anyway, given his recent Turkey Trot, Rossi has done exactly as I predicted and become a transrunner. He avoids that difficult middle portion of races of any distance. A true visionary. So far he is sticking to transrunning for PBs, but I like to think he will one day feel confident and comfortable enough to transrun events just for fun. The important part, after all, is that sense of belonging and the super cool medal at the end to add to your wall of "always earned, never given" without irony or shame.

5 Miles at 5K Pace wrote:

5 Miles at 5K pace. C'mon, everyone knows that workout!

Yep, Mike did it right: two days before your goal race. Big confidence booster.

rexthebex wrote:

5 Miles at 5K Pace wrote:

5 Miles at 5K pace. C'mon, everyone knows that workout!

Yep, Mike did it right: two days before your goal race. Big confidence booster.

I just ran a marathon at 5:30/mile pace. So I'm hoping to run a mile on the track in under 5:45.

Still in the game!

rojo wrote:

So he races a 5k at 6:34 pace. All out. But we are supposed to believe two days before the race he was able to run 5miles at 6:40 pace. A 5 miler at 6:40 pace is equivalent to a 20:06 5k according to the McMillanc calculator.

So Rossi is racing slower than he runs in practice?? That makes no sense.

As someone his age that has flirted with 20 minutes for a few years and broken it just once, it just smells. I know everyone is different, but if I could run back to back 5 milers at 6:40 and 6:48, in a workout, I'd be running sub 20 easily and probably close to 19 flat. And to me that's the key, they were workouts, not three race days in a row. I have a friend a few years older that runs times like that daily, but then he also runs sub 3 regularly.

While it's obvious to everyone here that Rossi cheated in that 5k, he could always say that he was really in sub-18 minute 5k shape and it was the shoe malfunction, at the start, and having to weave his way through hundreds of runners on a narrow course that resulted in his slow time.

While I admit that I'm starting to feel sorry for Mike, it would be good for a few laughs if he tweeted something akin to this for the benefit of his Twitter followers.