Frank Meza 2:53:10 at LA Marathon (70 years old) unofficial time (just finished)

Increible!

Did he wear Vibrams?

Just when we thought that Gene Dykes was an outlier...this guy is a machine.

It should be noted that he has been investigated and DQd at other marathons for suspicuous and spurious splits and for missing on course split points and/or on course photo locations.

MI wrote:

It should be noted that he has been investigated and DQd at other marathons for suspicuous and spurious splits and for missing on course split points and/or on course photo locations.

Citation needed.

YMMV wrote:

MI wrote:

It should be noted that he has been investigated and DQd at other marathons for suspicuous and spurious splits and for missing on course split points and/or on course photo locations.

Citation needed.

The LA Marathon is a point-to-point course.

This should be a big deal. Why isn't there more press on this?

There's a claim he was DQd from 2014 CIM for missing mats. No idea if it's true. https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=6873776

YMMV wrote:

MI wrote:

It should be noted that he has been investigated and DQd at other marathons for suspicuous and spurious splits and for missing on course split points and/or on course photo locations.

Citation needed.

And he hit every mat with consistent splits. Well done, Frank. Looks like a great performance!

point2point wrote:

The LA Marathon is a point-to-point course.

My opinion is this...Gene Dykes and Frank Meza (2 superstars and massive role models) would get no thrill out of achieving a record time by cheating. As though it is so easy to cheat. If Frank was seeking the "all time record", would he not run a record eligible course. (not point to point) Frank Meza has run 2:53:27 (Oct '18) - 2:53:54 (Feb '19) - 2:53:10 (Mar '19) ...the past 2 races (6 weeks apart) are probably the fastest 70 plus times ever. It should be a monster story. Check Frank's steady improvement over the past 10 years. Dont know what happened at CIM, but DQing a 65 year old Doctor for missing mats, seems a bit much now, really. (if that happened) The real cheaters are the "bandits". Does Runners World not know of these past 2 races of Frank's.

Here's the problem...If you look closely at Frank Meza's results, you will find cause for suspicion. Ten years ago, he was running marathons in the 3:02 - 3:05 range. Ten years later, he's now running ten minutes faster??? And running these marathons within weeks of each other at times?

So dig a little deeper...search for pictures of Frank on the course. Other runners near his finishing times often have DOZENS of photos. These speedy runners are near the front of the race and often running alone and thus are easy for the race photographers to catch on camera. But guess what, Frank just does not appear or appears only near the finish in many of his "record breaking" marathons"!! Just search the race photos for Long Beach, LA, Phoenix/Mesa. Why so few pictures? Why doesn't he appear in the frame with other runners of his speed? There is NOT ONE still photo of him on the course in the most recent LA Marathon...just a few images of him crossing one timing mat.

So how does he beat the system...after all, his bib crossed all the timing mats??? The bib is being worn on a belt...easy for someone else to run with on his/her back side then to pass to Frank late in the race. I know someone who reported seeing Frank walk off the course at the midway point of LA a few years ago...then saw his name in the results with a sub 3 hour time.

Hmmm.

Here's the problem...If you look closely at Frank Meza's results, you will find cause for suspicion. Ten years ago, he was running marathons in the 3:02 - 3:05 range. Ten years later, he's now running ten minutes faster??? And running these marathons within weeks of each other at times?

So dig a little deeper...search for pictures of Frank on the course. Other runners near his finishing times often have DOZENS of photos. These speedy runners are near the front of the race and often running alone and thus are easy for the race photographers to catch on camera. But guess what, Frank just does not appear or appears only near the finish in many of his "record breaking" marathons"!! Just search the race photos for Long Beach, LA, Phoenix/Mesa. Why so few pictures? Why doesn't he appear in the frame with other runners of his speed? There is NOT ONE still photo of him on the course in the most recent LA Marathon...just a few images of him crossing one timing mat.

So how does he beat the system...after all, his bib crossed all the timing mats??? The bib is being worn on a belt...easy for someone else to run with on his/her back side then to pass to Frank late in the race. I know someone who reported seeing Frank walk off the course at the midway point of LA a few years ago...then saw his name in the results with a sub 3 hour time.

NotPossible wrote:

Here's the problem...If you look closely at Frank Meza's results, you will find cause for suspicion. Ten years ago, ... Hmmm.

The real problem is that you are a moran. Anything that you "image" from 10 years ago has absolutely nothing to do with a race a few days ago. Now crawl back into your troll hole until you learn how to troll better.

If you are falsely accusing of him Rossing the course, you could be in danger of being sued.

Not sure what a "moran" is, but you missed my point.

Search for images from ANY of his marathons and you will find a troubling lack of photos in comparison to others of his speed.

Search for images of Sunday's LA Marathon. Why is he not pictured in ANY images on the course (search for bib #1151)? But others that hit split mats at nearly the same exact time appear in DOZENS of photos (bib #3252, bib #18573, bib #1148)...

I'm just saying...

I'm not "falsely accusing" anyone of anything. I'm just pointing out my factual observations.

Whether or not those observations add up to anything other than a strange set of circumstance, I guess I may never know.

You are on to something here. Two marathons in the low 2:50s within two months at age 70? Suspicious indeed.

I looked at the photos from his last 3 marathons. I have seen photos from others prior. Take a closer look. If any doubters are serious runners, they can see that Frank is a serious and ultra fast runner for his age. The best, in fact. Should be a great competition between Frank and Gene Dykes. Gene must have thought he had no challengers. To the accusers, get real...you could easily prove your point, IF it were indeed true. You should do that or drop it. Thanks

He's got a point. A really quick search of a few of his races shows a weirdly low number of photos, almost all of them at the finish. I'd never heard of this guy until yesterday. Are there rumors about him? Is there a reason he hasn't attracted more attention?

Not Possible wrote:

Search for images from ANY of his marathons and you will find a troubling lack of photos in comparison to others of his speed.

Search for images of Sunday's LA Marathon. Why is he not pictured in ANY images on the course (search for bib #1151)? But others that hit split mats at nearly the same exact time appear in DOZENS of photos (bib #3252, bib #18573, bib #1148)...

I'm just saying...