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

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RossiCheated wrote:

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Dufus wrote:

https://iconic-imagecdn.azureedge.net/MFT2017-01/04/817104/1010/0038.jpg?preset=p

I think the person standing in front of the car now might be with Frank? Was this ruled out? Maybe the sequence taken a few more runners back will show if the car left right after that or what that person did?

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Agreed. It’s possible that the action starts from this vantage point a minute or two after Frankie goes past the camera. In subsequent photos of runners do we know if that car drives off?
I suppose it would be interesting to look at earlier photos to try to determine when that car arrived.

Honestly though, I’d be a little surprised if that’s an accomplice’s car because I think that car would always be one block off the course, driving on a parallel street.

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Mr Shankly wrote:

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The curious programmer/runner wrote:

I've created a program that could allow anybody to download a large amount of finisher pics for analysis so that not just us programmers are able to do this. Would anybody be interested in me posting the code and instructions? I can make it very fool proof.

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If you can post the code to github or something, I'd be interested in seeing it. Great work.

And +1 on the great job to so many posters on this.

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What a conversation it must be if the accomplice theory is correct.

"Hey, I need you to do me a favor this Saturday..."

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just wow!!!! wrote:

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Roderick Powell wrote:

Santa Clarita Marathon. Frank Meza’s first marathon. His BQ. The race he would certainly have finished second place in, had he run last year. Second place was 3:09. Pretty good for walking across the start line in warm-ups and behind 1,000 plus tightly packed runners, (80% HM runners) needing to pass most of them. From videos I saw on YouTube there are parts of the course where cutting the course would be hard, if not impossible. Pre-planning would be necessary. FYI it is hard to get photos from previous years. Just the most recent race. FM has certainly successfully cut this course 10 times. ( one was a HM) I have come to believe that Frank Meza has not run a mile in under 7:00 in at least 20 years. FM really limited his options with telling “the kids” about running Chicago. So, we should know the end of this story in the next 3 or 4 months, one would think.

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He will NOT run Chicago or he'll do it super slow claiming an injury.

But...most likely it's a big NO as he now knows that too many people know 100% what he did and if questioned he'd be embarrassed to a whole new level.

It's over and I'd guess that most people who personally know him have seen this thread and are convinced that he cheated.

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I just want to second the kudos to all the sleuths.

This thread is entertainment gold. Please keep coming up with the photos.

Also, if anyone works in any of the stores along the course, would be great if you could access some security video footage showing FM toodling along on a scooter.

I was checking the times I need to beat on the "racewire hall of fame"...next year
results RACEWIRE HALL OF FAME
Marathon
Rank Athlete Name Athletes Details Time Bib Number
1 FRANK MEZA 63 | M 3:09:27 1165
2 FRANK MEZA 63 | M 3:09:51 380
3 DAVE MILLER 63 | M 3:12:18 234
4 JEAN-CLAUDE ST-PIERRE 63 | M 3:18:22
5 VINCENT P HEY 63 | M 3:19:16
6 JAMES TIERNEY 63 | M 3:21:35 20359
7 DAVID M. MILLER 63 | M 3:21:48
8 BARRY WALLMAN 63 | M 3:22:02 703
9 BARRY WALLMAN 63 | M 3:22:02 703
10 MARINUS DIELEMAN 63 | M 3:22:41
11 GENE DYKES 63 | M 3:24:30 2194

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RossiCheated wrote:

We’re learning that he gets within a near vicinity to the mats quite early and has to kill time. So, who’s ruling out the “lone man with a bike, busting tail around the course” theory?

I’m 100% done with that for the races with an abundance of photos. I think there’s an accomplice for sure.

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Loyola High School promotes itself with lots of self-congratulatory language on its website. Here's a snippet from Rev. Gregory Goethals, SJ, the school's president, "Loyola forms young men into the people they were created by God to be–men of conscience and character who know how to use their gifts and talents to change the world. Join us in our journey as we help lead Los Angeles into the future."

So far in this Meza saga, here's what we know about Loyola:
1) The school touted Meza's world record setting Phoenix/Mesa marathon on its website.
2) The school's head coach responded to Marathon Investigation/Derek Murphy's legitimate inquiries with anger and implied threats.
3) The school did remove Meza's picture and the Phoenix/Mesa Marathon article from its website at some point along the way...BUT...
4) Subsequent to several MI articles and the LA Times article which all presented clear evidence of Meza's cheating, someone at Loyola allowed Meza to speak to the XC team to deny the charges.
5) Los Angeles Assistant District Attorney and Loyola alumnus Scott Dominguez vociferously defended Meza in the LA Times article and in a lengthy e-mail posted in the comments section of the LAT article. Someone purporting to be Dominguez strongly defended Meza on the LR thread...only to later backtrack once the amazing sleuths on this thread presented more and more proof of Meza's cheating.
6) Loyola HS, the local press that often presents fawning coverage of all things Loyola, Dominguez, Lalo Diaz, etc. have gone radio silent as the evidence has accumulated. Not even a peep since the official LA Marathon DQ.

Where are the voices of the "men of conscience and character" produced by Loyola when it comes to this Meza saga?
The silence from Loyola thus far speaks loudly.

I hope Derek or the author of the rumored LA Times follow-up piece seeks official comments from Loyola and Diaz at. al.

He’s not running Chicago because he isn’t registered, and registration closed last November. He would have to get a charity bib. You know that isn’t gonna happen. He better buy a home treadmill.

Again, incredible sleuthing.... there is no doubt still a treasure trove of evidence out there to be found. If FM were smart, he would capitulate, apologize etc and avoid the torrent of future cheating autopsies to come.

If deadesq were on the case in 2010-11, He would have found a Litton photo during a costume change or something.

Most entertaining cheat thread ever! Funny FM “ran” under the radar during the Litton investigation years while the spotlight was on KL.

I agree that a driver for Meza seems likely. The part that seems weird about that, though, is that he has cheated so many times. We're talking, what? like 20-40 marathons over the last decade? That would mean 20-40 times someone would have had to do the driving thing - sometimes in an unfamiliar locale (like Phoenix).

What I'm saying is, it's fairly easy to imagine him planning it out with a willing accomplice, once. But why so many times? There is so little in the way of payoff. Presumably, it would involve the same crew, or some of the same crew, time after time. Why would they keep doing it? It would be a fairly dull task. Like, great, I've got to get up super-early again on Sunday and drive Frank around so he can cheat his way to yet another age group trophy!

Not saying that means it doesn't happen; just pointing out that it adds another layer of weirdness.

Agree - so weird.

How does the son not know. Let’s see - dad started behind me and then “ran” a 2:56 to my 3:08. He didn’t pass me. How does he run so much faster than me?

It starts out, “Could you give me a lift to Brentwood and then gets more complicated.”

Meanwhile, I have a hunch Frank is doing some calf stretches on the running board of a silver or gray SUV. Maybe a BMW X5? His white singlet doesn’t match the SUV color. In the photo he’s too tall to be doing stretches with his feet on the ground while leaning on the SUV. His posture would not support the idea he was in front either.

https://m.imgur.com/a/E84t9rt

https://m.imgur.com/a/BIO8Mhr

https://iconic-imagecdn.azureedge.net/MFT2017-01/04/817104/1010/0035.jpg?preset=p

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Golgi Body wrote:
Presumably, it would involve the same crew, or some of the same crew, time after time. Why would they keep doing it? It would be a fairly dull task. Like, great, I've got to get up super-early again on Sunday and drive Frank around so he can cheat his way to yet another age group trophy!

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Golgi Body wrote:

I agree that a driver for Meza seems likely. The part that seems weird about that, though, is that he has cheated so many times. We're talking, what? like 20-40 marathons over the last decade? That would mean 20-40 times someone would have had to do the driving thing - sometimes in an unfamiliar locale (like Phoenix).

What I'm saying is, it's fairly easy to imagine him planning it out with a willing accomplice, once. But why so many times? There is so little in the way of payoff. Presumably, it would involve the same crew, or some of the same crew, time after time. Why would they keep doing it? It would be a fairly dull task. Like, great, I've got to get up super-early again on Sunday and drive Frank around so he can cheat his way to yet another age group trophy!

Not saying that means it doesn't happen; just pointing out that it adds another layer of weirdness.

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Late To The Party wrote:
For Frank to pull off his cheating alone using a bike he'd have to be doing the equivalent of a top age-group duathlon -I mentioned this some 100 pages back- and anyone with a scintilla of knowledge about athletics could see that Frank was incapable of that just by looking at him. Of course he had accomplices.

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Attn: Loyola Coaches, Administration, and Dr. Meza

I've followed cheating threads on this forum for years. For what it's worth, here's my advice.

Last week, a Google search for Frank Meza marathon returned 46,000 hits. Today, the same search returned. 151,000 hits. This is not even close to being over. Epic threads of marathon cheating have gone on for years on LetsRun and created a viral following. For example, search for Mike Rossi marathon returned 2.1 million hits today.

Loyola needs to distance itself and its program from Frank Meza immediately. Scrubbing him from the website is not enough. It makes it look like you're part of a coverup. To be clear, I'm not implying that it is a coverup. I'm making you aware of how it might be perceived by runners and the parents of your students.

You need to issue a press release ASAP. You know the PR drill. "Dr. Meza is a great guy... done a lot for kids... a lot for school... it's come to our attention that... we don't condone or tolerate... suspended pending further investigation. "

As a case in point, last week, if I recall correctly, my search for Loyola Frank Meza marathon returned 3,300 hits. Today, it returned 15,900 hits. I would not be surprised to see this total jump significantly in the future, as the focus on this forum has shifted in the past 48 hours from speculation about biking the course to the more likely possibility of being driven by an accomplice.

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ExpertKipWatcher wrote:

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Late To The Party wrote:
For Frank to pull off his cheating alone using a bike he'd have to be doing the equivalent of a top age-group duathlon -I mentioned this some 100 pages back- and anyone with a scintilla of knowledge about athletics could see that Frank was incapable of that just by looking at him. Of course he had accomplices.

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What I don't get is the fixation with pedal power, we have mentioned E Bikes over and over, not to mention motorcycles and him driving himself, why is it pedal cycle or accomplices? I just don't get it.

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HS stepped up? wrote:

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Golgi Body wrote:
Presumably, it would involve the same crew, or some of the same crew, time after time. Why would they keep doing it? It would be a fairly dull task. Like, great, I've got to get up super-early again on Sunday and drive Frank around so he can cheat his way to yet another age group trophy!

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I was thinking the same thing. Thanks for the laugh!

I'm still thinking no accomplice and e-bike.
No accomplice, because of the reason above.
E-bike because race-day traffic can be horrific in large cities.
Did they have e-bikes back in 2007 for the "Inaugural "Meza No-Run Marathon" ?

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RossiCheated wrote:

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maybe this wrote:

The suggestion has been made before, and there's not actually much enthusiasm for it. We care about running and racing. The doctors of California will have to police themselves.

Do I care if a guy is cutting courses? Absolutely. Do I care if he's a fantastic doctor or a crummy one? No, not my beat.

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I agree. Let’s stick to OUR knitting. If Derek and the LR Sleuths can make the sport better, we win. If we start going after people’s professional lives based on tenuous extensions (a running cheat MUST be a professional cheat or whatever), then we get into an unnecessary and dangerous territory. Why bother? Let the doctors police the doctors. At this point the powers that be in the medical world are probably aware of this issue. We need do nothing on that front.

Regarding the claim about his impossible 5k split: I think they took a split and subtracted time that he was standing still to determine a “running time” and the result was impossible. Give them credit for that.

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