https://www.finisherpix.com/gallery/photos/en/usd/3017/1151ATTITE, STRIDE, BODY TYPE
It’s beyond obvious he’s cheated. Not sure if it’s been mentioned but look at his clothes in the LAM race pics. He’s wearing a baggy blue shirt under a half zip. He’s Rosie Ruiz. Nobody under 4 hours will be wearing a half zip and a blue technical top during the entire marathon under decent conditions. IF THEY DID, BOTH WOULD BE DRIPPING WET! He’s wearing this early in the race at Madame Taussad’s in Hollywood and would have sweated through the shirt within a few miles. The same could be said for the black hat. It would be encrusted with sweat by the end.
His stride in the pics is not that of someone who can run 26.2 @ 6:36 pace. Any good collegiate coach could look at his mechanics and explain why he’s slow. If you look at succession of pics with the cones, wheelchair athlete, and one other runner, he’s being left in the dust by the runner within a few seconds!
His body type isn’t capable. His ankle to calf to waist to chest ratio is disproportionate to that of near world record holder. He looks 20 lbs heavier than someone of that echelon would be expected to be.
LAM is so easy for someone to cheat on. There are vast stretches of places where there are no onlookers. Nobody is going to say something if a random guy jumps in during the middle of a race. I’ve paced two friends to a 2:58 and 2:52 on the back half of LAM. Like other runners have pointed out he’s near the front end of these races and there are a gazillion photos of sub 3 hour runners but few photos of him. LA is a hobby jogger hub and if an old dude is out there killing it, the photographers would snap it up.
It seems like this guy is getting better with gaming the timing mats because he actually understands them. So his bib isn’t visible for obvious reasons. However,he forgot to account for his running attire and that’s the smoking gun.