Berryman 2009

This was the third GENESYS running of the Berryman marathon and 50-mile trail race. GENESYS people give new meaning to the phrase "work hard - play hard". This year's course was more difficult than prior years due to a recent storms. These storms left over 70 big trees down on the trail as well as a whole lot of water. In spite of conditions, everyone finished and most returning marathoners bettered their time. This is an amazing group of people. A full trail marathon, on a tough course like Berryman, is no small feat. Yet look closely at all of the smiles in these pictures. The smiles say it all.

Pre-race. Nervous smiles. A cool morning following an overnight storm. The undeterred runners see a little more rain before the day is over. All agreed that rain is better than heat. These are "cup half full" people.

We had two more 50-mile bad asses this year. John Fralick and my Brother Matt both ran the entire 25 mile loop.. twice. So now the GENESYS 50-miler list includes Mike Gase, Pete Leon, Casey Yunger (2nd year) me and now Matt and John. Who's next?

Cheering every runner to the finish line are bell ringers Kaylan Perry (my daughter) and her cousin Madison (Matt's daughter)

The pictures to follow are roughly in order of finisher times. I regret that I missed Griffin Weyforth's finish (too fast). I didn't take my own photo but I can proudly say I finished 3rd overall! My best marathon effort ever.

Tim Hazlett, running friend and soccer Dad, finished his first trail marathon. Tim is a 3:27 road marathoner. His Berryman was 4:37 which supports my theory that you have to add an hour to your road time for a true trail marathon.

Don Fredericks (most improved) ran his third Berryman, bettering his time by over an hour with a 5:18. Don has suffered two broken backs and open heart surgery. He has been another of my hero's since I met him. A good person.

Pete Leon pulled off his fastest Berryman marathon yet at 5:19.

Randy Nuttall (Wolverine Fluid Power) previously a fast road-runner, pulled off his first trail marathon. And yes Randy - you did beat my first Berryman.

Dave Swift (Owens Corning) finishes with Brandon Vega. Dave's first with a very respectable time, and Brandon's second Berryman.

Belinda Roberts - Mother of our own Jonathon's Roberts, finished her second Berryman. Jonathon, who has run multiple marathons, didn't participate this year as he spent all his training time studying for his PE exam. He also sacrificed his Berryman to be in China for us. Thank you Jon. John Sr. Belinda's husband, has been training for months for his first 50-miler. His flight was canceled due to storms. Major Bummer.

Jake Hawthorne beats his parents 2007 marathon times by almost half!

Keith Davis (Owens Corning) and Jake finished together.

Angela Perry, Matt's wife, finishes just under 7-hours. She could do better but had knee issues. Angela is the strongest first year marathoner I have ever had the pleasure of training with. In spite of a rough race, she was planning her next race within an hour of finishing. I think she's converted. She's a stud.

Scott Story (Barnes Distribution) and Don Waldman (Ford Motor) finished together. Donny is my hero this year. He is a cancer survivor having endured very harsh treatment in the mid 90s. His cancer has been in remission but his lung capacity is diminished. Then, last fall, his numbers began to rise again. He and his Doctor agreed to marathon training as an alternative to a second round of more traditional cancer treatments. He didn't miss a single mile of training and his numbers haven't increased in the past 12-weeks. Think about that.

Donny also turned 56 years old Sunday!

John Kriegle (Compuware) finishes his second Berryman with a huge time improvement.

Happiness

My lovely wife Tracey finishes her second Berryman and third marathon. She improved her time and didn't get lost this year!

I'm so lucky.

Kris Dickerson and Matt Johnson finish together. This is Kris's first and Matt's second Berryman. Matt wins the award for most conservative training program.

Casey Yunger - third Berryman, second 50-miler and first to finish of the 50-mile GENESYS studs.

Matt Perry and John Fralick finishing their first of two 25-mile laps, looking strong.

Short break before going back out to finish the long run of their entire lives.

John Fralick's first 50-mile! Stud.

Deservedly Proud.

Matt Perry finishing 50-miles of rocks, roots, water and fallen trees. Budweiser in hand.

Matt's handsome son Caden.........

Matt's ugly dog.......

We were a smaller group in 2009 which stands to reason because we are a smaller company. In spite of a difficult year, this amazing group of athletes trained harder than ever and finished with attitude. Me and Donny.

My son Miles and Caden, Matt's son, try their hand at mountain biking the Berryman trail. Neither remained upright.

John brings his own person hot young chearleader.

Dave is whipped.

Randy looks like he could do it again......next year?

I missed photographing Griffin's finish. This was his second Berryman. He's ready to take on a 50 in 2010.

It's all about the the buckle, the medal, the running hardware, running bling.

Owens Corning is a better company for having these two guys as fit as they have been in thier entire lives.

You could run around in the woods with these beauty's if you sign up to run with us next year!

Me and the most beautiful trail marathoner I have ever met. Life and love is good.

For the finishers, you make up the less than one tenth of one percent of human beings who have gone the distance. For you 50 milers, you aren’t human beings at all. You are animals. And to think you guys did this together on a hilly, wet, rocky trail in a national forest. I sincerely hope each of you gained something special from the experience, not only the event but the whole experience. A marathon is not a single day. It is at the least a 16 week experience of discipline, work, cold, sunshine, wind, early mornings, soreness, snow, ice, sunsets outdoors and self awareness. At most, the experience can be life changing. As I like to say, we only get one shot at life and this is no dress rehearsal. Congratulations.

An invitation to all. 2010 training starts in seven months. Join us. Make the committment and we will help you get to the finish line.