The investor who steals millions of dollars eventually gets prison time. The student who was conveniently sick on test days eventually gets caught with cheat sheets while making up their tests and isn’t allowed to speak at graduation. An athlete who takes illegal supplements eventually gets caught and suspended.
Cheating in the running world has been around for decades. The first incident of cheating I can recall comes from the infamous Rosie Ruiz. She cheated to win the 1980 Boston Marathon by hopping on a train and jumping back on the course to run the last mile. In doing so she ruined the moment for Jacqueline Gareau, who later had to return to Boylston street to recreate her finish line moment. However, this re-created moment paled in comparison to the crowd and the feeling of victory that Gareau should have experienced on Patriot’s Day.
Because of Ruiz and other course cutters like her, many marathons have implemented timing mats to ensure runners complete the entire course. If a runner misses numerous timing mats, they are disqualified unless they can prove their timing chip malfunctioned.
Somewhat more recently was the case of Mike Rossi. Rossi rose to fame after his kids were denied an excused absence from their school to watch their dad run the Boston Marathon in 2015. After the school’s denial, Rossi posted a response on Facebook. His response went viral and Rossi was interviewed by national morning shows.
Once Rossi started to gain media attention and fame, some running sleuths began to investigate his racing history. This is where the problems started for Rossi. In order to run the time he did, 3:11:45, one would need to see evidence of that type of speed and improvement from other races. Rossi didn’t show that type of speed in any of his previous races.
Sleuths began looking at his qualifying race, the Via Marathon. Typically at races there are hired photographers taking pictures at various areas along the race course. Here was another problem with Rossi: he didn’t show up in any pictures except for at the end. Runners that finished near Rossi were photographed in three or more places along the course. This combined with the Via Marathon not using any timing mats except for the beginning and the finish made it extremely likely that Rossi cut the course in order to run a Boston qualifying time.
This increase in popularity of running sleuths lead to the creation of marathoninvesitgation.com. Site creator Derek Murphy is a numbers guy. He began pulling up race results, throwing them into a spreadsheet and looking at racing splits. These splits are given from the timing mats spread throughout a race course. Typically a runner should maintain roughly the same pace during a race, or at least be within a certain range. While a majority of the racing splits tend to come back within a fairly consistent range, on occasion he will find some impossibilities.
For example, Bre Tiesi-Manziel is famous for being a model and the wife of former pro quarterback Johnny Manziel. She ran a half marathon in March with the goal of breaking two hours, a respectable time goal for 13.1 miles requiring a 9:09/mile pace. At the halfway point, her split was 1:31:29, a 14:18/mile pace that included various stops to post updates on her Instagram account. She managed to finish in 1:58:22. If you do the math, like Murphy did, that meant she ran the final half of the race at a 4:01/mile pace. A 4:01 mile is very fast. The women’s world record for the mile is 4:12. So either Bre is a world record breaking runner, or she didn’t complete the second loop of the course.
One of the most severe cases in cheating is Dr. Frank Meza. Dr. Meza was a physician, high school track coach, and a very good runner. In 2014, he was named Master Distance Runner of the Year by Runner’s World magazine after running a 2:52 marathon at age 65. At this year’s Los Angeles Marathon, he broke the 70 year old age group world record by finishing 26.2 miles in 2:53:10.
However, upon further review of his uneven splits, Murphy began to look closer at Dr. Meza’s race. When looking at the pictures from the race, it appeared that Dr. Meza had stopped and run back on to the course. Dr. Meza claimed he had stopped to go to the bathroom. The problem? There are no port-a-potties in that area or any discreet alleys to “take care of business.” Eventually he was disqualified for cutting the course.
Murphy and other sleuths began to look at Dr. Meza’s other races. It appeared this was not just a one time occurrence. At the 2014 San Francisco Marathon, it appeared that Dr. Meza had ridden a bicycle for part of the course. Last I checked, that wasn’t allowed. He had also been disqualified from other races including the 2014 CIM Marathon and 2019 Phoenix Marathon.
Typically when Murphy finds evidence to post about a cheater, he will contact the individual to give them a chance to come clean. Dr. Meza was given that chance but kept denying it even after mountains of evidence piled up against him. In the end, this case turned tragic as Dr. Meza ended up taking his life on July 4.
So the question in all of this is: why? Why would someone want to cheat at a marathon or any race? As far as I can tell it comes down to three reasons:
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Social media: In 2019, social media rules everything. People post about their accomplishments and make their social media life look so much better than their actual lives. So if you can make it seem like you win races, achieve certain times, and break records, that means you’ll get more likes, followers, and shares. The more likes and followers you get could lead to more opportunities to become more famous.
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To qualify for other races: In order to run races like the Boston, New York, and Chicago marathons, you need to meet a certain time standard. New York and Chicago have a lottery system to allow runners who don’t meet the time standards to register for those races, but Boston only allows time qualifiers (outside of charity bibs). I’ll admit the prestige of running Boston is a pretty good motivation to put in the miles at dark o’clock and being able to run it is definitely a badge of honor for a runner. If you can cheat your way into these races, you can certainly give the impression that you are an above average runner.
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They really like free bananas. Ok, maybe not but you never know.
I’ll admit I’ve thought about cutting a course on more than one occasion during a race; not really to finish in a specific time, but just to be done and never run again (trust me, all runners have had this thought). At the Erie Marathon last year when my legs didn’t want to move anymore after 22 miles, I thought about making the shortcut across Presque Isle toward the finish line. But after about 10 seconds, I figured it’s not worth it and kept trudging along. While the benefits of shortening a run so that you can finish with a faster time might be tempting, that’s not the point. The point of running a race is to put a challenge in front of you and crush it. So keep on crushing!
Race Calendar
Saturdays beginning at 8 a.m. – Tussey Mountainback Discovery Series.
For runners interested in training for the Tussey Mountainback, or really any runner who wants to get a few miles in on a Saturday morning in Rothrock State Forest, then these runs are for you. Over the course of the next eight Saturdays, group runs will be taking place at various areas of the Tussey Mountainback course. All runs begin at 8 am and are free.
9/7 – 5.3 miles beginning at Colyer Lake
9/14 – 5.5 miles beginning at Colyer Lake
9/21 – 7.2 miles beginning at Penn Roosevelt State Park
9/28 – 7.8 miles beginning at Alan Seeger Natural Area
9/14 & 9/28 – 8:30 a.m. – Nittany Valley Running Club Youth Cross-Country Meets – Oak Hall Regional Park on Linden Hall Road.
This is for any and all kids 14 years and younger. The races are of various lengths depending on the age of the child. Ribbons will be given to all participants.
9/14 – 9 a.m. – You Matter 5k and 10 Mile Bike Ride – Stepping Stones Community Church, 848 Science Park Road
This run, walk, or bike ride is the biggest fundraiser for the Pregnancy Resource Clinic. The event is family-friendly and includes refreshments and activities after the races.
9/15 – 3 p.m. – State College Cross Country Alumni Mile – Circleville Park
This event is open to all runners, especially State High alumni who ran cross country. The course is the last mile of the State High course at Circleville Park. This is a family-friendly event so that future State High cross country runners can run as well. Proceeds benefit the State High cross country team.
9/21 – 9:30 a.m. – Centre Heart Walk 5k and 1 Mile Walk/Run – Medlar Field at Lubrano Park
This race is around Penn State’s campus and benefits the American Heart Association.
9/22 – 7:30 a.m. – Rothrock Trail Fest – Tussey Mountain
This event is the fundraising kickoff for the Friends of Rothrock (F.O.R.) to help raise funds and awareness of implementing the multi-use trail planned for Rothrock State Forest. Two trail races – 6 and 13 miles – are planned as well as gravel bike races and trail bike races, as well as run/ride relay options.
