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/