Mike Rossi (born May 1967) is a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

and former

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garner ...

who gained national notoriety in 2015 after qualifying for the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...

with a time that later came under heavy scrutiny, resulting in widespread accusations that he had cheated in his qualifying race.

Early career

Rossi was one of the dancers on the 1980s television show ''

Dancin' On Air ''Dancin' On Air'' was a 1980s television dance music reality television, forerunner of the TV show ''Dance Party USA''. Both shows were produced and created by Michael Nise and his father Frank. The show started with US$100,000 from a small gr ...

''. In 1986, one of the hosts quit, and 36 hours later, Rossi became one of the co-hosts of the show at the age of 18. The show was canceled in 1987.

Viral fame and cheating accusations

In 2015, Rossi ran in the Boston Marathon, and brought his wife and 9-year-old twins on the trip from their hometown of Abington, Pennsylvania. He subsequently received a form letter from his children's principal informing him that a family vacation was not an excusable reason for absence, and that the school days his children missed would be marked as unexcused. Rossi then wrote a response to the principal, which he never mailed, but did post on

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; the post went viral, and was shared by over 28,700 people within a week. After appearances on the

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show and

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, controversy erupted over how Rossi qualified for the Boston Marathon. Rossi had submitted a qualifying time of 3:11 that he had supposedly run in the

Lehigh Valley Health Network Lehigh Valley Health Network is a healthcare network based in the Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The healthcare network serves eastern and northeastern Pennsylvania. Its flagship hospital is Lehigh Vall ...

Via Marathon. The organizers of that marathon asked USA Track & Field for help in investigating cheating allegations, raised mostly by other runners who, in exploring Rossi's race history, noticed that a 3:11 marathon was inconsistent with all of Rossi's other publicly available race results. In addition, there were no photos of Rossi anywhere on the Lehigh marathon race course except for at the finish line; he was the only finisher who was not photographed on the course. Most other runners were seen in 10 or more pictures taken along the way by a company hired to take photographs of the runners. The editors of

LetsRun.com LetsRun.com is a Fort Worth-based news website and internet forum for information and discussion related to track and field, especially long-distance running. The website provides pre-race previews, covers races, and interviews athletes. Despite ...

, one of the top five running-centric websites in the world, called the evidence "overwhelming" that "Rossi did not run the entire 2014 Lehigh Valley Marathon." The organizers of the Via Marathon sent LetsRun a statement explaining why they could not disqualify Rossi's time, stating it was "simply because they received no reports of wrongdoing as the race took place." They also stated that "there is data from Rossi's participation in other racing events indicating that Rossi's time may not be accurate."

Aftermath

The founders of LetsRun.com publicly offered Rossi $100,000 if he could repeat his 3:11 performance within one year of the offer. Meanwhile, the organizers of the Via Marathon announced that they had taken several steps to verify runner participation and timing accuracy after the Rossi incident. Previously, the only timing mats at the Via marathon were at the start and finish line. The marathon committee added four on-course timing mats and video surveillance at several locations that Via would archive. Rossi was elected twice as "Philadelphia's Biggest Loser" by Philadelphia Magazine, in 2015 (ahead of Bill Cosby) and in 2016.

Arrest at Kenny Chesney concert

On June 25, 2016, Rossi was

tailgating Tailgating is the action of a driver driving behind another vehicle while not leaving sufficient distance to stop without causing a collision if the vehicle in front stops suddenly. The safe distance for following another vehicle varies depend ...

prior to a Kenny Chesney concert at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia in Lot K, which had opened up to tailgaters at 10 am. At around 5 pm, when he was asked to "move along" several times by venue security, he refused, and when police arrived on the scene and made the same request, Rossi refused again, and was arrested for criminal trespass. At his court appearance two weeks later, a ''

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

'' magazine reporter approached Rossi, who told reporters that he was not Mike Rossi. Rossi's identity was immediately confirmed by a court official on the scene.

Arrest at a McGraw/Hill concert

On August 19, 2017, Rossi was arrested outside the Wells Fargo center after a

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Hill' ...

concert for allegedly punching a 47-year-old woman. Rossi later posted to his Facebook page admitting he had "a hellish past 2 1/2 years," and "most of it I brought on myself and I take full responsibility."

Arrest after assaulting two officers

On January 5, 2020, Upper Gwynedd officers were called to the scene of a domestic disturbance. Rossi physically assaulted both officers. They sustained minor injuries. Rossi punched one of the officers in the face, which led to her colleague tasering him. The officers took Rossi into custody and charged him with aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. Rossi spent three days in jail, and was freed after posting $25,000 bail. In August 2021, Rossi pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault and was sentenced to three years' probation.

References

{{Reflist , refs= {{cite news , url=http://mycitypaper.com/article.php?Up-in-the-Air-12607 , title=Up in the Air , last=Amorosi , first=A.D. , date=Feb 5, 2012 , publisher=MyCityPaper , access-date=April 25, 2017 {{cite news , url=http://www.phillymag.com/articles/mike-rossi-boston-marathon-aftermath/ , title=Mike Rossi's Endless Marathon , last=Huber , first=Robert , date=Feb 25, 2017 , website=Phillymag.com , publisher=

, access-date=April 25, 2017 {{cite news , url=https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Mike-Rossi-Unexcused-Absence-Boston-Marathon-Trip-Abington-301755501.html#comments , title=Kids Receive Unexcused Absences After Dad Takes Them on Educational Trip to Boston , date=April 29, 2015 , publisher=NBC10 , access-date=November 14, 2017 {{cite news , url=http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/04/29/boston-marathon-dad-principal-letter-coverage/ , title=Boston Marathon Dad Scolds Media Over Principal Letter Coverage , last=Fiorillo , first=Victor , date=April 29, 2015 , publisher=Phillymag.com , access-date=April 25, 2017 {{cite news , url=http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/other-sports/2015/05/07/Pennsylvania-dad-behind-Boston-Marathon-letter-under-investigation-over-qualification-questions/stories/201505070190 , title=Pa. dad behind viral Boston Marathon letter under investigation over qualification questions , last=Sheehan , first=Dan , date=May 7, 2015 , newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , access-date=April 25, 2017 {{cite magazine , url=http://www.runnersworld.com/newswire/questions-arise-over-how-a-pennsylvania-dad-qualified-for-boston , title=Questions Arise Over How a Pennsylvania Dad Qualified for Boston , last=Wade , first=Alison , date=May 7, 2015 , magazine=

Runner's World ''Runner's World'' is a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners of all skills sets, published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was founded and published by Rodale, Inc. in E ...

, access-date=April 25, 2017 {{cite news , 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 , date=July 16, 2015 , publisher=LetsRun.com , access-date=April 25, 2017 {{cite news , url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2016/04/14/cheating-running-joke-boston-marathon/b8ncQDuDT4OAiUnfhK5XSI/story.html , title=Cheating is no running joke at Boston Marathon , last=Springer , first=Shira , date=April 24, 2016 , newspaper=

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after ''The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its Al ...

, access-date=April 25, 2017 {{cite news , url=http://www.mcall.com/news/local/allentown/mc-via-marathon-follow-20150722-story.html , title=Accusations of cheating lead to timing mats, cameras at Via Marathon , last=Sheehan , first=Dan , date=July 22, 2015 , newspaper=

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

, access-date=April 28, 2017 {{cite news , url=http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/06/29/boston-marathon-dad-finds-controversy-again-after-arrest/ , title='Boston Marathon Dad' Finds Controversy Again After Arrest , last=Stigall , first=Chris , date=June 29, 2016 , publisher=CBS Philly , access-date=April 25, 2017 {{cite magazine , url=http://www.phillymag.com/news/2016/07/08/mike-rossi-court/ , title=Boston Marathon Dad Mike Rossi Shows Up In Court, Says He's Not Mike Rossi , last=Fiorillo , first=Victor , date=July 8, 2016 , magazine=

, access-date=April 25, 2017 {{cite magazine , url=http://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/08/21/mike-rossi-arrested-punching-woman/ , title=Boston Marathon Dad Mike Rossi Charged With Punching a Woman , last=Fiorillo , first=Victor , date=August 21, 2017 , magazine=

, access-date=August 21, 2017 , colwidth=30em People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Television personalities from Philadelphia Sports controversies Cheating in sports