Protest Again Following Runner, 67 : Sports: Winner in 1995 L.A. Marathon’s 65-69 age group had been disqualified in other events after officials said he failed to show up at checkpoints. He has denied any earlier misconduct.

Is Richard Roodberg a “notorious cheater,” as one critic calls him, or a marvel of old age?

Allegations of misconduct have dogged 67-year-old Roodberg since 1988, when he came from nowhere to post a world-record time in his age group at the Los Angeles Marathon.

Roodberg was disqualified from that race--as well as the 1990 Los Angeles and Boston marathons--after officials said he failed to show up at any of the courses’ checkpoints. Officials said he did not run the entire races, charges he steadfastly denied in a 1990 interview with The Times.

Marathon runner Patrick Devine recalls reading about the controversy surrounding Roodberg, but he didn’t give it much thought--until he scanned the results of this year’s Los Angeles Marathon and discovered that Roodberg was the runner who finished ahead of him to win the 65-69 age group.

That launched Devine on a campaign to force Roodberg to return the victory plaque, and rekindled the old allegations about whether Roodberg--who says he trains for marathons by jogging in place--is a fraud.

Prompted by Devine, marathon officials reviewed videotape of the race to see if Roodberg’s victory in his age group should be overturned. But rain during the marathon affected the quality of the tape, making the investigation inconclusive, race director Lisa Rosenfield said.

“Without that sort of proof, we cannot disqualify anyone,” Rosenfield said.

Repeated attempts to reach Roodberg for comment were unsuccessful.

In an event that had more than 19,000 entrants, the task of detecting misconduct has proved daunting for Los Angeles Marathon officials. But the fact that Roodberg, twice disqualified, was granted entry into the March 5 race has raised questions about the marathon’s screening process.

Says Devine, a retired engineer who lives in Rancho Palos Verdes: “Being that [Roodberg] burned the Los Angeles Marathon twice and the Boston Marathon once, I thought they would take stronger action.”

Roodberg, a Van Nuys resident, finished the 1995 L.A. Marathon in 3 hours, 17 minutes, 24 seconds--nearly three minutes faster than Devine, 66, an experienced runner who has completed all 10 Los Angeles marathons and has won his age group six times. Devine ranks among the nation’s top senior distance runners.

There is little data available on Roodberg at the USA Track and Field Road Running Information Center in Santa Barbara, other than a brief file that chronicles his alleged hoaxes.

“He’s a notorious cheater,” said Basil Honikman, chairman of the records committee at the information center.

Running Times magazine referred to Roodberg as “a known fraud” in a 1990 editorial.

Illan Sparado, Roodberg’s daughter, says her father is being judged unfairly by those skeptical of his accomplishments.

“It seems typical of people who are jealous,” Sparado said.

Sparado said Roodberg has stayed in excellent physical condition throughout his life. In addition to running an occasional marathon, Sparado said, her father is an avid skier and beach volleyball player, and works out regularly with weights.

In a 1990 interview with The Times, Roodberg said he prepared for a marathon by jogging in place on a rubber mat for an hour three times a week, thus avoiding the pounding his knees would absorb by running long distances on hard surfaces. Sparado said running is not part of her father’s training regimen.

This method of training deviates greatly from the workouts of most marathon participants, who run up to 100 miles a week. Devine, for instance, said he runs an average of 65 miles a week in preparation for a race.

Former UCLA and USC coach Pat Connelly, who has coached distance runners for 30 years and is a commissioner for the Los Angeles Marathon, said it was doubtful that Roodberg could run a 3:17 marathon without logging a minimum of 60 miles a week in road training. He estimated that 1,200 of his students, alumni of a 30-week training program he conducts in conjunction with the medical staff at Orthopaedic Hospital, started the 1995 L.A. Marathon after completing a minimum of four or five 20-mile runs before the race.

“To be an accomplished marathoner, you have to put your body through the rigors that it takes to run 26 miles,” said Connelly, 57, an LAPD sergeant. “The body has to learn to take the impact of the roads.” Los Angeles Marathon race director Rosenfield said runners can be refused entry based on past misconduct, but she acknowledged that the rule is nearly impossible to enforce.

“We don’t have the computer technology to red-flag names,” she said.

Part of the problem, experts said, is that the L.A. Marathon is an “open” marathon, accepting all runners. The Boston Marathon is more selective, with qualification based on running times. Also, the Boston Marathon has a strict policy of banning all runners who have previously been disqualified.

Rosenfield was unsure if the Los Angeles Marathon has a similar policy.

Roodberg first got the attention of runners at the 1988 Los Angeles Marathon by crossing the finish line in an astounding time of 2:34.35, which would have been a world record for his age had he not been disqualified. One of the runners Roodberg supposedly beat was 1972 Olympic marathon champion Frank Shorter, who was 40 at the time--19 years younger than Roodberg.

Roodberg posted a more modest time the next year at the Los Angeles Marathon, going unnoticed with a third-place finish in his age group. But in 1990 he finished in 2:47.28 to win the 60-64 group and apparently set a world record for his age. He was later disqualified. Despite Roodberg’s disqualification in 1988, marathon officials released his 1990 result to the media with no trace of skepticism.

Through that performance, Roodberg gained entry to the 1990 Boston Marathon. He was disqualified after he failed to show up on any of the video cameras that were set up every 10 kilometers along the course.

“Must be bad camera angles or something,” Roodberg said at the time.

He claimed officials at the L.A. Marathon failed to spot him in 1988 and 1990 because he was wearing a blue T-shirt over his bib number.

Devine expressed his suspicions to Los Angeles Marathon President Bill Burke in a letter dated April 1: “I am sick and tired of runners with absolutely no credentials suddenly turning in world-class performances. . . . I ask you to contact Mr. Roodberg, requesting him to return his award. I also ask that you officially disqualify Mr. Roodberg as a message to other ‘phantom runners’ who may try to do likewise.”

In 1990, Burke told The Times he knew what he would do if he were in charge of a race Roodberg had entered: “I would watch him and catch him.” But now, asked about Devine’s letter, Burke said he was unaware of the situation and referred the matter to Rosenfield.

USA Track and Field official Honikman, former referee at the Los Angeles Marathon, said marathon cheaters usually suffer from delusions.

“One of the problems with these people is that they are not calculated cheats,” Honikman said. “They really think they are running these races.”

Honikman said he encountered habitual cheaters when he put on marathons in Florida.

“One would start the race, go a couple of miles and jump off the course into his girlfriend’s car. They’d drive 15, 20 miles. The girlfriend would pour water over him and he’d finish the last three miles.”

The L.A. Marathon is thinking about improving its screening process by implementing a more advanced computer technology that would “red-flag” runners who have been charged with misconduct, Rosenfield said.

Other runners are so unconvinced of Roodberg’s ability that they have issued personal challenges. Al Hromjak, former editor of the Seniors Track Club Newsletter, offered Roodberg $500 if he could repeat his 1990 Los Angeles Marathon performance on any certified course.