So let me get this straight, you came on letsrun and in your very first post made the definitive statement:
"Conclusion: either in 2008 the runners were running too long or in 2009 the runners were running too short."
But you had not yet obtained an official answer to your enquiry as to whether the track used truly was not correct. Don't you think it might have been better to find out the definitive truth before making such absolute statements?
I'm not disputing that, just trying to determine if you had eliminated all other plausible reasons before making public anonymous accusations.
Again, not questioning what you saw. But remember again that if you were to spend hours going over videos of races that you could probably find plenty of violations that were not caught in real time with the naked eye (just witness all those pictures of race walkers not maintaining unbroken contact).
It would be great if each and every meet could have two or three dozen umpires stationed all around the track, both inside and outside, so that every last step of every competitor could be tracked to ensure that nobody stepped on any line.
But that ain't reality. Most meets don't have anywhere near the staffing you'll get for a National Championships and the result is you are going to have uncovered areas where it is possible that someone watching a video after the fact taken from a different angle than any official's viewpoint could detect lane violations.
If this reality really bothers you, then by all means, give more money to meets so they can bring in more qualified officials. Register yourself and get qualified so you can be a part of the solution by officiating at meets. Get your friends to do the same. Officials certainly don't appear out of a vacuum and unless you can continue to recruit new ones, you'll have fewer and fewer of them available. Where would your favourite meets be then?
This is not excusing any violations or mismeasurements of tracks, but asking you to step back from your vitriol and look at the bigger picture.