Revision 5425165 of "Mike Rossi" on simplewiki

{{RfD|I think that this subject seems to be notable for [[WP:1E|one event only which fails our notability guidelines]].  I don't think he's notable beyond his "15 minutes of fame" for his letter/possible cheating.}}

'''Michael Rossi''', usually known as '''Mike Rossi''' (born May 23, 1967) is the subject of a controversy concerning cheating to qualify for the [[2015 Boston Marathon]].

== Background ==
Mike Rossi studied at [[Temple University]] with a B.A. in [[Communication studies|Communications]]. Originally a dancer, he transitioned to being a host and was one of the hosts of the music show [[Dancin' On Air]] in the 1980’s. At the age of 18, he was at the time one of the youngest hosts of a live, daily television broadcast in American history. In the 1990’s he was host of the [[WRFF|WYXR-FM]] morning show. Currently he works for Country radio station 92.5 [[WXTU|XTU]], is a DJ and lives in the [[Philadelphia]] area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eastcoasteventgroup.co/blog/mike-rossi-runs-boston-marathon-then-gets-letter-from-school-principal|title=Philadelphia DJ's - East Coast Event Group |work=East Coast Event Group}}</ref>

== Viral letter ==
Mike Rossi ran the [[2015 Boston Marathon]]. Afterwards, he received a letter from the principal of his children's school regarding his decision to take them out of classes for three days so that they could watch him run the race. The letter from the school was required to be sent by the principal to alert parents of children who had unexcused absences. Mike Rossi posted the letter to Facebook with his own response to the principal. It went viral online and was shared ten thousands of times.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.inquisitr.com/2047915/mike-rossi-letter-from-kids-principal/|title=Mike Rossi Gets Letter From Kids' Principal, Response Goes Viral|work=The Inquisitr News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/28913170/school|title=Father's Response To Principal Over Unexcused Absences Goes Vira - FOX 29 News Philadelphia - WTXF-TV|author=Chris O'Connell|date=27 April 2015|work=myfoxphilly.com}}</ref> His letter gained international fame<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3060042/Father-writes-scathing-response-elementary-school-principal-critical-taking-kids-educational-trip-Boston-Marathon-cross-finish-line.html|title=Mike Rossi writes letter to principal critical of him taking kids to Boston Marathon - Daily Mail Online|work=Mail Online}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/dads-awesome-note-to-school-principal/story-fngqim8m-1227329033184|title=Dad’s amazing reply to kids’ absence note from school - Boston Marathon|work=NewsComAu}}</ref> and he was nominated as ''Dad of the Year''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://boston.suntimes.com/bos-news/7/119/159559/boston-marathon-dad-win-dad-of-the-year|title=This guy should win Dad of the Year|date=29 April 2015|work=Boston}}</ref>

== Marathon cheating ==
Mike Rossi’s viral letter drew the attention of fellow runners. They started looking into his running exploits and began questioning whether Mike Rossi legitimately qualified for the Boston Marathon.

He qualified for the [[Boston Marathon]] by supposedly running the Lehigh Valley Health Network Via Marathon in 3 hours, 11 minutes, and 45 seconds.

He was the only runner out of 1,065 participants who was not photographed on the course other than 2 finish line pictures. His previous race times did not indicate the ability to run the time he recorded at Lehigh Valley. According to professional coaches, his 3:11 time was physically impossible.<ref name="letsrun.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.letsrun.com/news/2015/05/the-evidence-is-overwhelming-mike-rossi-the-viral-marathon-dad-is-a-marathon-cheat-and-should-never-have-been-on-the-starting-line-in-boston/|title=Lehigh Valley Got It Wrong: The Evidence Is Conclusive: Mike Rossi - The Viral Boston Marathon Dad - Is A Marathon Cheat And Should Never Have Been On The Starting Line In Boston - LetsRun.com|work=LetsRun.com}}</ref>

Mike Rossi has denied the accusations, but has declined to provide further details or any evidence that might support his time in [[Lehigh Valley]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/05/05/did-boston-marathon-dad-mike-rossi-cheat/|title=Did Boston Marathon Dad Mike Rossi Cheat In Qualifying Race? - News - Philadelphia Magazine|work=Philadelphia Magazine}}</ref>

Although he was not officially disqualified from the race, the race director concluded that there are indications Rossi’s time is not accurate and that they are waiting for additional conclusive information. They also announced that for the 2015 LVHN Via Marathon, the course will have a minimum of six timing mats and video surveillance, to prevent this from happening again.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kintera.org/htmlcontent.asp?cid=666508|title=LVHN Via Marathon Statment|work=kintera.org}}</ref>

Running website LetsRun.com was so convinced that Mike Rossi cheated on his Boston Marathon qualifying race that they offered him $100,000 to repeat his qualifying time or $10,000 to run 13 minutes slower.<ref name="letsrun.com"/>


== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.letsrun.com/news/2015/05/the-evidence-is-overwhelming-mike-rossi-the-viral-marathon-dad-is-a-marathon-cheat-and-should-never-have-been-on-the-starting-line-in-boston/ Evidence of cheating in the 2014 Lehigh Valley Health Network Via Marathon] <small>(Accessed: 2 August 2015)</small>