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

Picture me TROLLIN wrote:

iiagdtr wrote:

Hahahahahahha Barb McKeever has no idea what this sport means to us. Zero. Cheatin' Mike Rossi is her cash cow market and $ource for her livelihood.

She has proven to be incompetent by not DQ'ing an obvious cheat. Do not hire her to run your event. Hire your grandmother.

Unfortunately Bart Yasso hired her

Also, Barb appears to be a cyclist of some sort on her Twitter @memracing or something? McKeever Event Management, so one would think she would know something about our sport.

Unfortunately, in the year 2015, "hobbyjoggers" are still allowed to cheat time and time again. USATF, the governing body for certified road races distances, does absolutely nothing. And BAA Boston Athletic Association and Boston Marathon do nothing but listen whatever the RD at the Boston Qualifying race tells them as to whether the time is legit or not - even in cases where BAA knows it's highly probable that the qualifying time was achieved through cheating.

So If the RD at the qualifying race at some low key marathon race in bumfvck middle of nowhere USA is a dumb*ss and still lets groups of people cut the course to BQ, the BAA still accepts it because it's not within their power to disallow them entry's into the race if the cheater's qualifying cut-off time is fast enough (this year it was like 3:03 or something?)

This is a problem. I wish there was an easy solution. I think at the very least the BAA should only allow BQs to be achieved at marathons being run with a basic level of competence. I'd like to see Lehigh VIA become ineligible as a Boston Qualifying course for 1 year suspension for the Rossi scandal and lack of timing mats. Barb made the changes by adding timing mats next year but fvcker still got into Boston unfairly. Anyone who ran 3;03-3:05 as a BQ from 2014-2015 and didn't get into Boston should be boiling mad.

Laughable wrote:

Laveyan wrote:

I've only had a mild interest in this thread but I'm curious what you hope to get out of this. Say you find conclusive evidence MR cheated and he gets DQ'd, what then? Will you feel vindicated that justice has prevailed?

He's just a hobby jogger who found a way to achieve his goal of running in a hobby jogging festival, albeit probably by dubious means. It's quite an interesting story but it's not really that big of a deal. Proving he cheated isn't going to change anyone's life and he still got his experience to run Boston which was the whole point of it.

Lets use your logic and talk about Lance Armstrong.

Interesting story? Check.

Did his cheating change my life? Nope. Not at all. Still an interesting story.

Does Lance think "I still have my experience winning the Tour de France and that was the whole point!"? I HIGHLY doubt that's anywhere near what he thinks. He has to live his life knowing that every time he has a conversation, he has to think "Are they smiling because they're nice or because they know the truth???" and he has to try to look them in the eye the whole time. Welcome to Mike's world.

Distance Fan wrote:

elephino wrote:

I'm fascinated by the story, which is obvious by my posting frequently in this thread. I've told several fellow runners (but not marathoners) about it. None of them had heard the viral marathon dad story nor the subsequent cheating story. They all reacted with basically a polite "that's nice" while their eyes glazed over with a look of "I don't care, why are you telling me this?"

I would totally buy a book on marathon cheaters, the phenomenon fascinates me, but it's of little interest to most people, even runners.

Thread recap (major players):

1. Gatorade& Vodka starts innocuous thread that turns into greatest thread in LRC history (at least by number of posts). Runner Felice also chimed in, with a sordid past and a vendetta against the accused (guilty).

2. SaraB, Doubler, Triathleteguru, GregTr (and probably some others) go all CSI over the 2014 LVM, and prove to anyone with 2 working neurons that MR didn't run 3:11:45 at the 2014 LVM. Also guy body slams dog at same marathon (where is PETA???)

3. Brojos act like they'll write a story, but it never appears.

4. LVM issues a non-DQ statement, saying basically "we know he cheated, but he had an attorney and unless you have video of him at Starbucks while he was supposed to running we're taking the easy way out.". Barb becomes known as incompetent race director #1.

4. LoserMikeRossi - wedding "industry" guy with a past and a vendetta against the accused (guilty).

5. MR appears to at least read, if not troll, the thread.

6. Other trolls run rampant: MikesHair, MikesMom, Smokinggunner, et all. I think JAKIR made an appearance!

7. Brojos finally publish article and issue $$$$$$$ challenges to back up their conclusion that the accused is guilty.

8. Cecily Tynan (meow!) - an awesome weather woman gets drug in via Twitter and basically says MR you can prove your not a cheat easily, if you're not. Why not do that??

9. MR gets an AOL attorney to write LMR a C&D letter. Awesome!

10. LMR gets thread basically killed due to family attacks and potential stalking.

11. GregTr schools LMR in IT.

12. LMR drags ex-mother-in-law in to publish some sort of story. TBD if it really happens.

Fire Barb McKeever! wrote:

Distance Fan wrote:

Thread recap (major players):

1. Gatorade& Vodka starts innocuous thread that turns into greatest thread in LRC history (at least by number of posts). Runner Felice also chimed in, with a sordid past and a vendetta against the accused (guilty).

2. SaraB, Doubler, Triathleteguru, GregTr (and probably some others) go all CSI over the 2014 LVM, and prove to anyone with 2 working neurons that MR didn't run 3:11:45 at the 2014 LVM. Also guy body slams dog at same marathon (where is PETA???)

3. Brojos act like they'll write a story, but it never appears.

4. LVM issues a non-DQ statement, saying basically "we know he cheated, but he had an attorney and unless you have video of him at Starbucks while he was supposed to running we're taking the easy way out.". Barb becomes known as incompetent race director #1.

4. LoserMikeRossi - wedding "industry" guy with a past and a vendetta against the accused (guilty).

5. MR appears to at least read, if not troll, the thread.

6. Other trolls run rampant: MikesHair, MikesMom, Smokinggunner, et all. I think JAKIR made an appearance!

7. Brojos finally publish article and issue $$$$$$$ challenges to back up their conclusion that the accused is guilty.

8. Cecily Tynan (meow!) - an awesome weather woman gets drug in via Twitter and basically says MR you can prove your not a cheat easily, if you're not. Why not do that??

9. MR gets an AOL attorney to write LMR a C&D letter. Awesome!

10. LMR gets thread basically killed due to family attacks and potential stalking.

11. GregTr schools LMR in IT.

12. LMR drags ex-mother-in-law in to publish some sort of story. TBD if it really happens.

You missed the famous Animal House/death threat incident.

LMR wrote:

It's not as dramatic as everyone makes it out to be. It's not some long hatred between us - at least not from my side.

I'm a videographer, he's a DJ, so we worked the same weddings occasionally. Maybe 3 or 4 times a year we'd cross paths. A couple years ago Mike was shorthanded and I did him a favor and filled in at 3 weddings. In 2014 he needed help for 3 more, one even on 24 hours notice.

Last year at a wedding I left the ballroom, as I usually do when there is nothing but drunk dancing left, and I sat in the lobby and texted my girlfriend. His DJ saw me and called Mike and told him I was sleeping. We had words and I told him I wasn't going to sit in a loud ballroom all night and if he didn't like the way I worked he just shouldn't call me to fill in anymore.

That was the end of the story until he made the news with the principal letter and I commented on my Facebook that I thought he handled it wrong and it wasn't fair to the principal. And that's when he tried to intimidate me by posting negative comments on both my Facebook business accounts.

Messing with another person's source of income and means of supporting one's family is crossing the line, in my opinion.

gatorade&vodka wrote:

LMR wrote:

It's not as dramatic as everyone makes it out to be. It's not some long hatred between us - at least not from my side.

I'm a videographer, he's a DJ, so we worked the same weddings occasionally. Maybe 3 or 4 times a year we'd cross paths. A couple years ago Mike was shorthanded and I did him a favor and filled in at 3 weddings. In 2014 he needed help for 3 more, one even on 24 hours notice.

Last year at a wedding I left the ballroom, as I usually do when there is nothing but drunk dancing left, and I sat in the lobby and texted my girlfriend. His DJ saw me and called Mike and told him I was sleeping. We had words and I told him I wasn't going to sit in a loud ballroom all night and if he didn't like the way I worked he just shouldn't call me to fill in anymore.

That was the end of the story until he made the news with the principal letter and I commented on my Facebook that I thought he handled it wrong and it wasn't fair to the principal. And that's when he tried to intimidate me by posting negative comments on both my Facebook business accounts.

Messing with another person's source of income and means of supporting one's family is crossing the line, in my opinion.

THAT'S IT?!!! That is why you've been obsessing about Mike and trashing his family for months?

Have you considered calling it even? Or maybe just letting it go and channeling your energy elsewhere?

LMR wrote:

The problem right now with getting the story written is that there is absolutely NO PROOF that Barb has looked at a single photo or talk to a single runner. She has 100% plausible deniability that there is any proof out there. She has been bombarded with emails and Facebook posts, and she can simply claim she hasn't seen ANY of it.

So the first step in getting this story written is to GET HER THE PROOF. It must be delivered to her via a secured courier with a return receipt stating that she has it in her hands. Then she will have 72 hours to review the information. She doesn't have to open it or look at it. But when my MIL calls her for a statement regarding the article she can either comment on the evidence and explain why it's not enough to DQ Mike, or explain why she isn't looking at the evidence at all, when her original statement says she would.

Or she can choose not even to take the call.

Either way, as of now, NOBODY has any proof that Barb has ANY evidence whatsoever. You are all just assuming she has read your emails and Facebook posts.

THIS IS HOW THE STORY WILL GET WRITTEN. This is how real reporting gets done. A reporter needs proof that the person being accused of the wrongdoing actually knows what they are being accused of.

Is any of this unclear?

gatorade&vodka wrote:

LMR wrote:

It's not as dramatic as everyone makes it out to be. It's not some long hatred between us - at least not from my side.

I'm a videographer, he's a DJ, so we worked the same weddings occasionally. Maybe 3 or 4 times a year we'd cross paths. A couple years ago Mike was shorthanded and I did him a favor and filled in at 3 weddings. In 2014 he needed help for 3 more, one even on 24 hours notice.

Last year at a wedding I left the ballroom, as I usually do when there is nothing but drunk dancing left, and I sat in the lobby and texted my girlfriend. His DJ saw me and called Mike and told him I was sleeping. We had words and I told him I wasn't going to sit in a loud ballroom all night and if he didn't like the way I worked he just shouldn't call me to fill in anymore.

That was the end of the story until he made the news with the principal letter and I commented on my Facebook that I thought he handled it wrong and it wasn't fair to the principal. And that's when he tried to intimidate me by posting negative comments on both my Facebook business accounts.

Messing with another person's source of income and means of supporting one's family is crossing the line, in my opinion.

THAT'S IT?!!! That is why you've been obsessing about Mike and trashing his family for months?

Have you considered calling it even? Or maybe just letting it go and channeling your energy elsewhere?