Frank Meza...marathon runner.

[tbssux]

Was she though?

Yes, she was shaving portions of the course to get first place (you can't fake the swim section, for instance). Meza was complete fabrication. It sucks for him that he didn't get caught earlier. Wouldn't have been this level of shame and maybe a different outcome.

[DBdude]

It's crazy that you're more likely to get caught cheating in racing than in banking.

No it’s not

What exactly is cheating at banking?

You mean inflating your assets for loans like our dear president?
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[SumJongGuy]

Yes? Also sad for his wife, sad for his kids, sad for his grandkids, and sad for his friends. The guy cheated at marathons, which while unethical and ill-conceived, is hardly a capital offense. Despite these transgressions it seems like he was still an overall decent person who had a lot of people who loved him. If he really killed himself over this, yeah, I find that pretty fucking sad.

It;s tough to come up with a scenario of suicide that isn't sad sans violent felons or child molesters. Sounds like a classic case of imposter syndrome. Dude felt the need to pad his resume on the athletic accolades front. What it came out that he wasn't even a real doctor and faked his college transcripts and other credentials? It would still be sad.

[smartyiak]

I was wondering if this thread would pop back up. Letsrun is going bonkers.

I do wonder: can a 70yr old Dr. be “cyber bullied?” I get how kids (and even young adults) are...and it shouldn’t happen, but 70yr old Dr.s?

I was actually thinking the same as SumJung....what if it was discovered that his bona fides were fabricated, his degrees were forged and he was a real life Don Draper?


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[Angle Parking]

I was actually thinking the same as SumJung....what if it was discovered that his bona fides were fabricated, his degrees were forged and he was a real life Don Draper?


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I'm sure someone is looking into it.

[billyk]

Take 1: I think it’s disgusting how these cyber-goons can get away with destroying a mans character with cheap aspersions and persecute him all because he has a weak bladder and often needs to leave the course during a race to relieve himself. Nevertheless, he is endowed with such talents that he able to set record times even while having to make these necessary diversions. Should he have just peed on the course, and caused fellow competitors to slip on the puddles of urine?

One can only suppose jealousy drove the cyber bullies to take it to the next step and murder the guy IRL! Murder, and coverup to make it appear suicide.

Take 2: assuming he did ride bikes over most of the course, how is that different from Casey Martin or John Daly riding a cart during a USGA event? Perhaps he has a disability that causes him to be slower than the other competitors, and a bike is required to even the playing field?

[Viva]

Take 2: assuming he did ride bikes over most of the course, how is that different from Casey Martin or John Daly riding a cart during a USGA event? Perhaps he has a disability that causes him to be slower than the other competitors, and a bike is required to even the playing field?

The goal of a marathon is to run the entire course on foot. Of course, walking is now allowable, which is why these events can last up to eight (8) hours or so.

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[Danno]

Take 2: assuming he did ride bikes over most of the course, how is that different from Casey Martin or John Daly riding a cart during a USGA event? Perhaps he has a disability that causes him to be slower than the other competitors, and a bike is required to even the playing field?

The goal of a marathon is to run the entire course on foot. Of course, walking is now allowable, which is why these events can last up to eight (8) hours or so.

there is a competition class for wheelchair people and perhaps other classes as well. And there are biking competitions if he can't run. John Daly and Casey Martin still play golf. They still hit the little ball in the hole with golf clubs. One doesn't get to compete in a golf tournament with a basketball and hoop on the pretenses that a disability prevents one from playing golf.

[billyk]

Sorry for the inept attempt at humor.

[bobz]

Really, just completing a marathon at age 70 is pretty amazing. And, clearly, the guy could still maintain a jogging pace, and presumably did some distance training, so he could have gotten a perfectly respectable time for his age. Also, a little secret from someone who has done a sub-3 marathon: It's a personal thing, and very, very few people care. Your running club buddies care, and that's about it for the circle of friends who even know what sub-3 means (but this guy wouldn't have had running club buddies, and if he did, they would have known that he wasn't nearly up to that pace).

So the whole thing's kind of bizarre. Marathon cheating is sick and pointless, plus, for someone who's trying to brush up against an age group world record, it's not going to succeed. He wasn't going to get celebrated for running a marathon at an under 7-minute pace when any given video clip, when he happens to be on the course, is going to show him cruising along with, at best, a 10-minute pace.

[SumJongGuy]

So the whole thing's kind of bizarre. Marathon cheating is sick and pointless, plus, for someone who's trying to brush up against an age group world record, it's not going to succeed. He wasn't going to get celebrated for running a marathon at an under 7-minute pace when any given video clip, when he happens to be on the course, is going to show him cruising along with, at best, a 10-minute pace.

But the thing is that he did didn't he? Didn't he already have several other results that were posted and on record close to that pace before he got caught cheating... and then the governing body went back to take a closer look at the available footage to conclude that he had been cheating during those events as well??

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Sorry for the inept attempt at humor.

I thought it was funny. Would have been even funnier if you actually meant it.

[bobz]

But the thing is that he did didn't he? Didn't he already have several other results that were posted and on record close to that pace before he got caught cheating... and then the governing body went back to take a closer look at the available footage to conclude that he had been cheating during those events as well??

Maybe so, he probably collected a few age-group trophies before anyone bothered to notice. But once his string of extraordinary times (it would be genuinely impressive for a 70-year-old to maintain the pace for a sub-3 marathon for much more than a 400 meter lap on a track) actually got some measure of attention, there was no way it was going to hold up.

[Viva]

Sorry for the inept attempt at humor.

We still love you!

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[hutash]

Death ruled a suicide. Appears he ran off a bridge. Maybe he was just running to fast to make the turn. Family says it was because he couldn't tolerate being called a cheat, not the he couldn't handle being caught as a cheat. Lots of excuses, but all he had to do was run a sub 3 time with an observer and all this would be behind him. I wonder why he didn't just do that

[bennymac]

https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...wim+bike+cheat

5 page padded room thread about the Whistler "triathlete" and the 2 NYT articles about her cheating.

Ironically she still works as a mental health counselor at a private university (ie rich kids school) in BC

[Angle Parking]

For a lot of people running a marathon is a kind of transformational act. And a very significant one at that. People trying to loose weight, get back into shape, get over a break up, claw their way out of a depression etc. Lots of housewife types trying to prove something to themselves and the rest of the world. I'm not dissing these folks in any way. Seems like a pretty positive outlet for people to reorient their lives. For buddy or anyone to cheat, which I am beginning to think is a relatively commonplace scenario, is a profound insult to the above stated folks. No wonder these creeps are being exposed with great vehemence.

And for people who don't run or know much about marathons, sub. 3 is fast as f*ck for anyone let alone a 70 year old.

[bobz]

And for people who don't run or know much about marathons, sub. 3 is fast as f*ck for anyone let alone a 70 year old.

Yeah, that guy was seriously greedy for false glory; he probably would have taken age-group first place a whole hour more than that. And shame on any race people who, even without suspicious splits times, somehow didn't think that a 70-year-old who wasn't already established as a known elite runner doing a sub-3 reeked of bullshit.

For buddy or anyone to cheat, which I am beginning to think is a relatively commonplace scenario, is a profound insult to the above stated folks.

It never occurred to me that it should be common, because race times are such a personal thing for runners, that is, one's self cares about one's own running times vastly more than anyone else does (I remember running a half-marathon, and the first thing I said after crossing the finish was "that seemed short"; other runners agreed, and were kind of pissed, no one seemed to welcome a free few minutes improvement on their half time).

But, as easy as it is to cheat, it's probably not uncommon, particularly among people who have Boston on their bucket list (over the last decade or so, qualification times have gotten to be pretty stiff). Race organizers need to up their game. Because fuck the cheaters... and also, race officials would have done this guy a favor to have quietly disqualified him the first time he tried it, rather than leaving the job up to internet vigilantes.

[bobz]

Yes? Also sad for his wife, sad for his kids, sad for his grandkids, and sad for his friends. The guy cheated at marathons, which while unethical and ill-conceived, is hardly a capital offense. Despite these transgressions it seems like he was still an overall decent person who had a lot of people who loved him. If he really killed himself over this, yeah, I find that pretty fucking sad.

It's thoroughly sad. Whatever the story was about how he was driven to seek a string of near-world-record times was probably pretty sad to begin with. I'm considering him more as a curiosity than anything else, because what he tried to do seems pointless to me. He seems to have been pretty harmless, as pathological liars go, he shit on maybe as many as a half-dozen senior citizen runners and that's about it. Still, he was seeking attention, seeking fame even; be careful what you wish for. Sad as it is, he was responsible for what ended up happening to him.

[RootSkier]

He's famous now. Maybe infamous.

Guess it worked.

[smartyiak]

And for people who don't run or know much about marathons, sub. 3 is fast as f*ck for anyone let alone a 70 year old.

No kidding. I tried (and failed) to qualify for Boston...I felt like all I was doing was running...and eating; it was like a second job. I finished in 3:17:XX...about 1:30 short of BQ. I think with a BUNCH more work I could hit 3:10...but sub-3 is just flat out fast.

...he probably would have taken age-group first place a whole hour more than that....and also, race officials would have done this guy a favor to have quietly disqualified him the first time he tried it, rather than leaving the job up to internet vigilantes.

Second place was a bit more more than one hour slower. I think he was 4:07...but I might be remembering wrong.

Actually, a different marathon (CIM) had DQ'd him and banned him from their race several years prior to LA (and others)...quiet DQ didn't take. <shrug>

[bobz]

I get the whole narrative of setting a goal and improving health in all its forms. But I keep coming back to this view where people miss the entire point of outdoor recreation by getting wrapped up in things with illusory value like climbing 5.1x, running sub-3h, doing X 100-milers in a year, etc. Several friends that follow those paths repeatedly injure themselves, have loads of downtime and medical costs from over/mis-training, etc. And all that pain and waste is balanced out by... bragging rights? Just seems counterproductive to get sucked into it all. Exception being those that do it for a living. For the non-pros it seems like a really unhealthy imbalance of identity pursuit overwhelming reality.

You sound like one of those pipe-smoking guys out of the 1950s who chuckled smugly at the absurdly thin justification for climbing a silly mountain (there isn't even a bar or lounge at the top!) "because it's there". Arbitrary goals can bring structure and form to what turn out to be incredibly rich experiences.

[iceman]

What if the guy was legit? Is that even possible? It has to be possible. Anything's possible. They said he ran all the time, maybe he had a really good day? I'm just asking, I have no idea and no agenda.

But it's sad the guy offed himself and I wonder why. One reason could be, he got busted and couldn't take the shame. Another reason could be, he actually did it, and nobody believed him, and suddenly he's in the spotlight and it won't let up, and fukkit, out.

[Danno]

What if the guy was legit? Is that even possible? It has to be possible. Anything's possible. They said he ran all the time, maybe he had a really good day? I'm just asking, I have no idea and no agenda.

So, how does the following statement apply to you?

And for people who don't run or know much about marathons, sub. 3 is fast as f*ck for anyone let alone a 70 year old.

Nobody has a "good day" and suddenly runs a sub 3 marathon, just because they run a lot. A sub 3 marathon is a 6:52 mile. For 26 miles. It's far beyond just having a "good day"; if you can run that fast once, you can damn sure replicate it or come close at other times. I doubt I could run a single 6:52 mile.

[brutah]

What if the guy was legit? Is that even possible? It has to be possible. Anything's possible. They said he ran all the time, maybe he had a really good day? I'm just asking, I have no idea and no agenda.

But it's sad the guy offed himself and I wonder why. One reason could be, he got busted and couldn't take the shame. Another reason could be, he actually did it, and nobody believed him, and suddenly he's in the spotlight and it won't let up, and fukkit, out.

There was overwhelming evidence that he had cheated in multiple races, including this statement when he was disqualified from the 2019 LA marathon, "The video evidence is confirmed by a credible eyewitness report and our calculation that Dr. Meza’s actual running time for at least one 5K course segment would have had to have been faster than the current 70-74 age group 5K world-record [an impossible feat during a marathon]."

It's sad he felt the need to cheat himself all these years and then ultimately cheated himself out of the rest of his life, cheated his family, wife, kids and grandkids.