record breaking marathoner is accused of course cutting

[Demovictory9]

https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-marathon-cheating-allegations-frank-meza-20190621-story.html

Frank Meza, 70, of Pasadena, California ran a 2:53:10 at the L.A. Marathon in March, a time that is faster than Ed Whitlock’s M70 world record by over a minute. His record wasn’t ratified, as the L.A. Marathon is a point-to-point race and therefore not record-eligible. But moreover, Meza is facing scrutiny for course-cutting on multiple occasions, including his record-breaking run.

Derek Murphy of Marathon Investigation has followed Meza’s results and reported that he suspects Meza cut the L.A. Marathon course.

Murphy writes, “Frank was shown entering The LA Marathon course from a sidewalk prior to the 20 kilometer timing mat. Despite Frank’s claim that he only exited the course once for a few seconds ‘to pee,’ the evidence showed that Frank did not appear on the course prior to the location that he emerged,” implying that he exited the course and took a shortcut.

Murphy further argues that, “It is not a coincidence that his times were less than a minute better than Gene Dykes’ unofficial record set at The Toronto Marathon. I don’t believe this is the case of someone cutting a course and mis-calculating and setting a record time.” Meza was disqualified from both the 2014 and 2016 California International Marathons and subsequently banned from the race.

There’s also evidence that Meza cut the course at the 2019 Spouts Phoenix Marathon, hitting each mat in a believable time but disappearing from photographs in between mats. Murphy writes, “When I report on more of Frank’s results the pattern will become even more clear. Whenever Frank’s pace can be verified through course photos or video, his pace is significantly slower than his official splits.”

https://runningmagazine.ca/sections/runs-races/70-year-old-marathoner-suspected-of-course-cutting/

[Skittles]

1. he is probably not the only one

[Demovictory9]

4. he will have an escort at the next marathon. Let's see how well he does

[ProudLib72]

2. What is the point? Bragging rights? Sponsorship?

He's 70 fucking years old, for chrissakes! And he was disqualified and banned from the other race, so it's not like someone is going to overlook that. I guess I will never understand people like this. They just have to cheat for some reason even if it doesn't provide them any advantage.

[RockRaven]

3. Seriously, the one where he hit the timing mats at believable times but was absent from the course

between is either an erroneous "absence of evidence is evidence of absence" argument from the accuser... or a giant f-ing loser who pre-planned a sort-of elaborate fraud to gratify a really pathetic ego (which can somehow be gratified by NOT ACTUALLY doing the thing which allegedly provides the gratification).

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Follow up- accused was found dead in a shallow part of the LA River yesterday.

https://www.cbssports.com/general/news/70-year-old-man-accused-of-cheating-in-the-l-a-marathon-found-dead-days-after-disqualification/

[Demovictory9]

6. What happened?

[AtheistCrusader]

7. Based on witnesses that said someone jumped

it appears he committed suicide. His recent marathon records were being un-done by the investigation that showed him cutting courses and riding a bike, and he also claimed to have a recently discovered heart condition that prevented him from attempting to re-create any of his previous runs while under observation.

Apparently the stress got to him.