70-Year-Old Marathoner, Accused of Cheating, Found Dead in Los Angeles – runnersworld.com

Frank Meza, a South Pasadena, California, physician who was recently disqualified from the Los Angeles Marathon for not following race rules, was found dead on July 4 in a dry channel of the Los Angeles River, numerous outlets reported.

Meza was 70 when he recorded a time of 2:53:10 at the Los Angeles Marathon on March 24 this year. His time was 90 seconds faster than the official age group world record for the distance, 2:54:48, set in 2004.

Meza’s performance raised suspicions among those online who root out race cheaters, especially because Meza had already been disqualified twice from the California International Marathon and banned from that race. The website Marathon Investigation devoted several articles to Meza’s performances. And a thread on LetsRun.com had more than 5,000 posts about Meza.

In an article in the Los Angeles Times on June 21, Meza denied that he cheated.

“I’m kind of losing sleep over it,” he told the Times. “Obviously your mind is going to run wild. … What happens if everyone starts believing this?”

On June 28, officials at Conqur Endurance Group, which organizes the Los Angeles Marathon, released a statement disqualifying him from the race.

“After an extensive review of original video evidence from official race cameras and security cameras at retail locations along the race course, Conqur Endurance Group has determined that Dr. Frank Meza violated a number of race rules during the 2019 Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon, including re-entering the course from a position other than where he left it. 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].”

Meza had said he left the course to look for a restroom.

On the morning of July 4, Meza’s wife, Tina, told The Daily Beast that he told her he was going out for a run. She said that her husband “had been devastated by the allegations” that he had cheated at races.

“We don’t understand why he was attacked,” she said. “He was just a soft-spoken, nice person. It hurt him deeply. I still don’t understand it.”

Derek Murphy, who runs the site Marathon Investigation, and has worked with Runner’s World on investigations into cheating at marathons, released a statement saying, in part, “I am deeply saddened to learn of Frank Meza’s death. My heart goes out to his family and friends, and I wish for everyone to be respectful and to keep his loved ones in mind.”

Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005.