Sad News: Frank Meza Found Dead In LA River

Smoove wrote:

To be clear, I don’t think exposing cheaters is wrong and I don’t think Derek or anyone else is responsible for Frank’s actions. I do, however, think that Frank’s death should remind us that we are talking about real people and that we should keep in mind that finding the line between exposing someone and trying to impact every area of that person’s life beczaue of their cheating.

I do feel for his family and the kids that he impacted. I also believe he cheated. Those things don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet but in some respect the various Race Directors should reflect on this apparent suicide. Frank was disqualified twice and banned for life from the CIM marathon. That didn't seem to cause him any distress. But LA, Long Beach and Phoenix all sat on their hands. Had he been DQ'ed from those races then he may well have stopped his cheating many years ago and a thread would never have started on LetsRun.

This is very sad news, and I wish this story had a very different ending. This wasn’t a pre-teen cyber bullying case. This was a story about a 70 year old runner claiming an age group world record performance. That performance was questioned. He was provided numerous opportunities to demonstrate the validity of his record to numerous other unbiased sources who contacted him early on. Heck, with his stated running ability he could have gone along way to negate this by just going out and doing a verifiable stand alone 6 minute mile, something a 6:30/mile marathon runner would be able to accomplish. This story carries a lot of blame, and there will be no satisfactory answers. Did we see it coming? No, his responses were along the lines that he would run a future marathon. This story however is not about on-line harassment or public humiliation. It’s about a guy who ran marathons at times that could not be verified under detailed examination, and wasn’t able to see a path to the future.

To me, prayers mean a lot. Last night I prayed for Frank.

The fact that this old man felt compelled to cheat at marathons shows that he did have some mental illness, no stretch to see how that could lead to suicide. He was clearly unbalanced.

He cheated. He committed suicide.

Your attempt to simply the situation to "That's all that need to be said" is unconvincing. What you said was clearly NOT "all that need to be said."

What about these other questions, and what says you??

-Did Derek put Frank Meza on that bike in 2014?

-Did Derek fake that undeniably incriminating photo from way back in 2014?

-Did Derek or anyone here at letsrun inspire, convince, cajole Frank Meza to cheat?

Also try these on:

-Should running cheaters be condoned from now until perpetuity because one of them to kill him/herself?

-Would Dr. Frank Meza be alive today if not for his decision to serially cheat at marathons all those years ago, thus falsely inspired his friends family and people around him to look up to him; and once irrefutable evidence of his cheating surfaced he realized he could not face them again?

-Why didn't Frank Meza just come clean?

So you know Frank? You know his mental state.

This story is SOLELY about online harassment and cyber bullying.

The “marathon investigators” could have handled this discreetly or with more respect

They didn’t.

Ok. Post your biggest mistake here for all to see and lets pour over that mistake.

I am very sorry to hear this news. I just read a story about him in The Times and came over here to see if his antics were being covered only to find out he was dead. I hadn't previously read any of the threads about him. Most of the time the forum is too awful to spend time on and I will probably spend even less time on it now.

malmo wrote:

Ultra or Die wrote:

In the public square, if we must always consider that someone may be unstable and temper our criticisms then there is no free speech, and debate will suffer.

In a civilized world we dont stone someone for a parking ticket.

+1

I agree with you completely. It boggles my mind that people seek to lay blame at anyone other than who's to blame. Frank made his choices. A clear, concious choice to lie, cheat, and build an image based on lies.

I followed the Meza thread, every single page. Besides the occasional outliers, most of it was focussed on dealing with facts. What can be proven! I thought the standard of evidence in that thread was a lot higher than in most other cheating threads.

Dereck did a great job and stuck to the evidence.

tartarm wrote:

Would Dr. Meza be alive today if not for the internet mob? You know the answer.

Has there been any evidence to show that he read LRC or other Internet sites? I tend to think the television media would have been much worse. A very small percentage of people read running websites, but TV and newspapers are everywhere. Seeing yourself on the evening news would probably be the worst embarrassment and may have been a major factor in the final outcome.

tartarm wrote:

All you losers who defend Derek and LR know the answer to this question

Would Dr. Meza be alive today if not for the internet mob? You know the answer.

Deep down you know the truth. That’s all that need to be said.

So attacking on the internet is bad...and here you are doing just that. But it’s okay for YOU to do it. Gotcha. SMFH.

Would Meza be alive today if he did not lie and cheat? You know the answer.

People like you, who try to shift blame, are exactly what is wrong with not just LR, but with the world. One person cheated. One person lied. One person chose (if it was suicide) to kill himself. And yet here you are trying to blame others.

Disgusting.

1) It would really suck to have an article about your death refer to you as marathon cheater when I'm sure there has to be one thing this person has done for others.

2) It's just running who cares.

3) So we're calling that guy a "marathon investigator" now? If that's the case it needs to be "self-proclaimed marathon investigator" - what an utter and absolute waste of time.

tartarm wrote:

All you losers who defend Derek and LR know the answer to this question

Would Dr. Meza be alive today if not for the internet mob? You know the answer.

Deep down you know the truth. That’s all that need to be said.

A couple of things;

Do we know that Dr. Meza committed suicide? Until that is confirmed as fact, your statement is essentially groundless speculation.

Secondly, if his death was a suicide, would he be alive today if he had not made the conscious decision to cheat in a public venue over a period apparently spanning several years? While I cannot condone the tone of some of the content here, the fact that he personally promoted his questionable records in public tends to make public skepticism fair game.

All that said, RIP doctor. I hope that you are remembered for the good you did for your community.

LetsRun.com wrote:

Sudden deaths are always very sad.

Please be respectful of Frank's family. Jokes about Frank's death will not be tolerated , nor will posts blaming Good Morning America, the LA Times or internet mobs.

If you want to post on this thread, you must register as we've closed this thread to non-registered posters to try to cut down on insensitive remarks, needless speculation or blame. If you want to post rationally and respectfully about the matter, register and do so.

While we don't know the cause of death, if you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, please get help and call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

After reading all the posts, looks like all assume he died by his own hand. I don't think the actual cause of death has been determined as yet, unless I'm mistaken. Could also have been some medical issue, at age 70 its not out of the realm of possibility.

I read the entire thread. Those that presented hard evidence did so in a respectable and professional manner. I am also saddened by the outcome, and it’s understandable that those close to Frank, who are upset and confused about this whole situation, would seek to blame anyone and everyone else. Those who knew his mental state, as you indicate, would have been the best to intervene if they could. This is a very tragic situation, at this time it is appropriate to focus on the positive aspects of the man’s life. This public forum also provides for that.

Culley22 wrote:

tartarm wrote:

All you losers who defend Derek and LR know the answer to this question

Would Dr. Meza be alive today if not for the internet mob? You know the answer.

Deep down you know the truth. That’s all that need to be said.

So attacking on the internet is bad...and here you are doing just that. But it’s okay for YOU to do it. Gotcha. SMFH.

Would Meza be alive today if he did not lie and cheat? You know the answer.

People like you, who try to shift blame, are exactly what is wrong with not just LR, but with the world. One person cheated. One person lied. One person chose (if it was suicide) to kill himself. And yet here you are trying to blame others.

Disgusting.

Disgusting is the fact that people went after his personal life instead of just focusing on fact finding and seeking a DQ,

breit leit wrote:

Culley22 wrote:

So attacking on the internet is bad...and here you are doing just that. But it’s okay for YOU to do it. Gotcha. SMFH.

Would Meza be alive today if he did not lie and cheat? You know the answer.

People like you, who try to shift blame, are exactly what is wrong with not just LR, but with the world. One person cheated. One person lied. One person chose (if it was suicide) to kill himself. And yet here you are trying to blame others.

Disgusting.

Disgusting is the fact that people went after his personal life instead of just focusing on fact finding and seeking a DQ,

I will agree with you there. Those personal chips can fall on their own IMO.

If he was a practicing Doc I could see the “if you knew he was bad (integrity, etc), and said nothing you were complicit by not saying anything.” argument, but for me I’d allow others to make those decisions on their own. This, to me, should have only been about running and DQs. But the Slueths on the other thread stuck to the facts. I do not blame them.

This is an incredible loss. It is also an opportunity for us to reflect on the hostility we engage in online, something few of us would do in person. There is a growing awareness of the hard split between Americans with different viewpoints, and the way that this divide invites dehumanization of those with whom one does not agree with on basic issues. Somehow, humans seem to want to beat their opponents mercilessly, to disable them, rather than to engage with them on a genuine intellectual basis. It happens everywhere online, most prominently on Twitter, when calling the other side stupid or immoral, then 'dropping the mic.' Mic-dropping is a myth. No single issue is as simple as black-and-white. No one individual or group has ultimate authority over truth. Life is short and unpredictable. There's no need to slander, libel, or defame. Perhaps next time, before we post, we can consider: Will this hurt the other side or person, and would I want this said to me? I'm reminded of the young journalist who was outed for cheating on a marathon. All of us make mistakes, and I'd venture that the cruelty we show towards those who make mistakes are just as revealing of our own moral fiber. Let's be kind, understanding, and compassionate, and when you see a person make an error, however grave, say to yourself "there but for the grace of God, go I."

george oscar bluth wrote:

malmo wrote:

In a civilized world we dont stone someone for a parking ticket.

+1

+1

I don't condone cheating, but this could have been handled differently. There was no actual crime, yet people on this forum became the judge, jury, and executioner. The original CIM Dqs were done professionally and discreetly. Yes, those Dqs didn't prevent further cheating, but that's not a race director's job. Did other marathons sit on their hands in regards to Meza? Maybe. One thing is for sure. There was a systematic character assassination of Frank Meza started and perpetuated here. Did he get what he deserved? I don't know. He got what he got.