I started looking back at the beginning of this thread and found this on page 2. I wonder who "run4life23" is? Those first couple of pages are golden; the seeds of what this thread would become are all clearly visible.
I have to say, I've been following this thread from fairly early on, and have found it absolutely fascinating from the standpoint of what it reveals about human nature. On the one hand you have the bizarre: why does an ostensibly successful and well-liked person feel the need to cheat, not once, but repeatedly, over many years? And the cheating just seems so unnecessary; people admire doctors generally, and I don't think he really needed to add "marathon age-group record-holder" to his resume. My feeling is that the general public doesn't even care that much about running, and inasmuch as they do care, there is not much difference between "finished a marathon" and "set a world record in the marathon"; basically, if you run a marathon, some people will be impressed, and that's about it.
Then you have the crusaders for justice - the people willing to spend hours of their lives looking at reels of photos to expose a fraud. I don't mean to sound like I'm mocking these people, because I personally spent probably several hours altogether looking at splits from Frank Meza's marathons, trying to find "smoking gun"-type impossible splits (of which there are several).
Kudos to Doubler (Derek) of MI and deadesq, btw; you guys are amazing. And many other posters made important contributions back before the thread really developed a life of its own.
Then there is the ever-fascinating and inscrutable Roderick Powell, who has alternated between being Meza's biggest fan and a leading detractor (and did some toggling back and forth for a while), and nobody is really sure what his true role in the whole mess is. I found this great quote from Rod on p.2:
The picture of Frank with the guy in an orange short (bib 16809 Dalmay) at the 10k timing mat disproves that. Some real "research" would show you clearly that what you wrote is untrue. There are many photos of Frank throughout the race. Frank seems to prefer wearing his bib on his shorts. This may explain the reduction in photos. Look at the still photos of Frank. He looks like the sterotype of a 70 year old record setting marathoner. (and he seems to not be sucking in that stomach) Their are many people who must have run with Frank in these events. Ask them if he is the real deal. I will bet the answer is absolutely. Do you really think this quintessential nice guy has been pulling a many year scam, involving many high profile marathons. Do you really think it is that easy to "jump back in" repeatedly and never be caught. Let's see when Frank beats the record on a course certified and sanctioned. It will probably take the course officials to apply for the record, as Frank does not seem to seek glory. Of all the guys to accuse, Frank seems to be the least likely. As a 62 year old runner myself, it does not seem impossible to turn around six weeks later and run another 2:53. (which may be actually 2:53:09 -not 2:53:10) Their are plenty of running books that detail schedules just for such a turn around. Gene Dykes runs quite a tight schedule, including 100 and 200 milers. Or is it 50 and 100. Either way that impresses me.