Where does this go now that at least a few "news outlets" are picking up on it and USATF has been asked to investigate?
Nowhere good for Mike.
1) Unless he provides real proof that he ran, he will go down in history as a cheat. He can tell his little kids today that he ran and everyone is wrong but they will grow up and the online record will remain. Some day they will look at all of this and won't like what they find.
2) People who ran Lehigh will get wind of this and will start to review their own photos. There very well could be a smoking gun found as the number of photos under review grows. Someone could have a photo of someone finishing a relay leg and he could be in the background (not running a marathon). Mike should be very nervous about that.
3) Nobody will get sued. (I love people who mistake slander and libel, by the way). A defamation suit would be a parade of evidence that he didn't run. Imagine a jury going through all the photos that he isn't in and hearing from experts about race pacing and so forth. Not going to happen.
4) Other media outlets will pick up on the story over the next few days. Once a few crack the seal, others pile on.
What ugliness did I miss?