Organizers of the Via Marathon, the race that Mike Rossi used as a qualifier for the Boston Marathon, announced today that Rossi will not be disqualified from the 2014 race, unless new and conclusive evidence becomes available. The Via event and Rossi's performance there became the focus of scrutiny after questions were raised about why his finishing time was significantly faster than his other known race results.

Rossi, 47, of Rydal, Pennsylvania, finished the 2014 Via Marathon in 3:11:45, which qualified him to participate in the 2015 Boston Marathon. He completed the Boston Marathon in 4:01:42.

In a statement, the race’s marathon committee wrote, “While there is data from Rossi’s participation in other racing events indicating that Rossi’s time may not be accurate, there is not conclusive evidence that his time in the 2014 LVHN Via Marathon is inaccurate. The LVHN Via Marathon has not received any reports from the more [than] 2,500 race participants, thousands of spectators, and more than 600 volunteers, course marshals, security personnel, medical personnel or race officials on the course of any wrong doing by any runner.”

Reached by phone on Friday afternoon, Rossi told Runner's World Newswire, “I'm satisfied that the Lehigh Valley Health Network Via Marathon conducted an objective evaluation of all the evidence. I fully cooperated with the investigation from the beginning and answered all of their questions. As far as my family and I are concerned, this matter is now resolved. I continue to rehab my injury and look forward to getting back to running as soon as I'm healthy.”

Members of the running community had raised questions about Rossi’s qualifying time shortly after he made national and international news due to his Facebook post that went viral.

Rossi had received a letter from his children’s school stating that the three days of classes they missed to accompany him to the Boston Marathon would not be excused. The response he posted to his Facebook page, outlining the educational value of the trip, went viral and was shared more than 32,000 times. News outlets all over the world, including Today, People, Fox News, and AOL, wrote about Rossi.

That attention led fellow runners to look at his past race results more carefully, and question the legitimacy of his Boston Marathon qualifying time. (See the threads on LetsRun.com and RunnersWorld.com.)

Among those who questioned Rossi’s qualifying race, the main arguments were that his 3:11 marathon was not consistent with any of his other race performances, that he posted little information about his breakthrough marathon to social media and his blog compared to his slower races, and that he did not show up in any Via Marathon race photos other than at the finish line. The runners around Rossi in the results were all photographed in three to six different spots along the course.

In an email to Runner’s World Newswire May 6, Rossi wrote, “The allegation against me that I did not achieve a qualifying time at Lehigh Valley is completely false. I focused my training to peak for the [Via Marathon] race in order to hopefully qualify for Boston.”

The 2014 Via Marathon, which runs from Allentown, Pennsylvania, to Easton, Pennsylvania, had chip mats only at the start and finish lines. Rossi’s race result indicates that his chip was activated at the start and finish of the race, but the lack of chip mats along the course meant there was no intermediate data available.

In its statement, the marathon committee wrote, “Moving forward the LVHN Via Marathon has taken several action steps to verify runner participation and provide the utmost accuracy in timing and scoring the race for all runners. For the 2015 LVHN Via Marathon, the course will have a minimum of six timing mats—at the start, finish line, and four additional on-course locations. In addition, there will be video surveillance of the course at several locations which Via will archive annually.”

Qualifying for Boston, one of the most prestigious marathons in the world, has become increasingly competitive in recent years, because there hasn’t been enough space in the field to accommodate all of the interested time qualifiers. Those who don’t meet Boston’s qualifying times can gain entry into the race by securing an invitational entry or running for charity. For thousands of runners, qualifying for the Boston Marathon is a major goal that can take years to accomplish.

Here is the full text of the statement the Via Marathon released on Friday:

After a thorough review of the available evidence in relation to Mike Rossi’s participation in the 2014 Lehigh Valley Health Network Via Marathon, the Marathon committee concluded that while there is data from Rossi’s participation in other racing events indicating that Rossi’s time may not be accurate, there is not conclusive evidence that his time in the 2014 LVHN Via Marathon is inaccurate. The LVHN Via Marathon has not received any reports from the more 2,500 race participants, thousands of spectators, and more than 600 volunteers, course marshals, security personnel, medical personnel or race officials on the course of any wrong doing by any runner. Therefore the LVHN Via Marathon Committee concluded that Rossi will not be disqualified unless additional conclusive information arises in the future.

Moving forward the LVHN Via Marathon has taken several action steps to verify runner participation and provide the utmost accuracy in timing and scoring the race for all runners. For the 2015 LVHN Via Marathon, the course will have a minimum of six timing mats - at the start, finish line and four additional on-course locations. In addition, there will be video surveillance of the course at several locations which Via will archive annually.

The Lehigh Valley Health Network Via Marathon is proud to be a Boston Marathon Qualifying event and will continue to support this race by providing athletes the opportunity to be a part of this longstanding tradition. The LVHN Via Marathon appreciates the running community’s support and vigilance in ensuring the integrity of our race and looks forward to continuing to provide a high quality racing experience.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io