By Bob Burns

 

Tom Bernhard’s running career began in his mid-forties on a treadmill.

He had started working out to lose weight, and he was successful, dropping 30 pounds. One day at the gym, the cross-country skiing machines were occupied, so he climbed on a treadmill as a last resort.

“I ran four miles and said, ‘Wow, that was a pretty good workout,’” Bernhard said.

With virtually no running background before that chance encounter with a treadmill, the late bloomer has won distance doubles on three different occasions (2006, 2007 AND 2009) at the USA Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships. This past summer, Bernhard won the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in the men's 55-59 age division at the national championships in Oshkosh, Wisconsin..

Bernhard, a 58-year-old resident of Castro Valley who runs for the New Balance Excelsior Club, came to the sport relatively late in life. He started running seriously – outdoors - in 1996, and it wasn’t long before he took the next step.

“Somebody said, ‘You should do a race.’ The thought had never really occurred to me,” Bernhard said.

Bernhard entered a 10-kilometer race at Moffett Field and clocked 38 minutes, 28 seconds, a respectable time for a 45-year-old novice. He finished third in the men’s 45 division and won a medal. “I thought that was pretty cool,” Bernhard said.

Within a year of his debut, he lowered his best to 34:48 and decided to try the marathon. In 1998, in his second 26-miler, he clocked 2:48:11. He dropped out of his third marathon and hasn't run one since.

“The marathon is just not a good event for me,” Bernhard said. ““Like a lot of runners, I improved a lot, but I was pretty ignorant and got hurt a lot. I’ve accumulated a lifetime’s worth of injuries in 13 years.”

Though he’s basically self-coached, Bernhard follows the basic tenets of Jack Daniels, the former Cortland State coach who authored the influential book, “Daniels’ Running Formula.”

“When we’re fit and running well, we tend to push the envelope,” Bernhard said. “Coaching is a science and an art. The science is easy. The art part is tough. It’s a balancing act.”

After winning the M55 5,000 and 10,000 at the 2007 USA Masters meet in Charlotte, the injury bug bit again. Bernhard rebounded with an outstanding 2009 season. He started off by running an outstanding 4:57 in the mile. He went to Wisconsin hoping to break 17 minutes in the 5,000.

The large number of entries in that event prompted meet organizers to divide the 5,000 into separate M50-54 and M55-59 races. Bernhard won the 5,000 in 17:06.84, finishing 44 seconds ahead of the field, and won the 10,000 by nearly two minutes in 36:39.60.

“This year, the No. 1 thing is that I’ve been healthy. I also lost 10 pounds, and I did a lot of core strengthening exercises,” said Bernhard, who is 5-foot-6 and 130 pounds. “Those things allowed me to run as well as I did.”

Looking ahead, Bernhard plans to compete in the 2010 USA Masters and 2011 WMA Championships, both of which will be held in Sacramento. Unfortunately for him, the WMA Championships begin on July 7, and he turns 60 on July 9. The rules state that an athlete must compete in the division that corresponds to his or her age on the first day of the championships, so even though Bernhard will likely be 60 when he races, he’ll be in the younger 55-59 age class.

“I’ll probably get my butt kicked, but maybe I’ll have a shot at a couple of records if the young guys pull me around,” Bernhard said. “That is, if Nolan Shaheed doesn’t destroy all the records before then.”

As a youngster growing up in the Appalachians of eastern Ohio, Bernhard followed track from a distance. He took a particular interest in Roger Bannister, the first sub-four-minute miler. But the track program at his high school in Cadiz, wasn’t very good, and neither was Bernhard’s memory of his one year on the team.

“I never ran after that,” he said. “I had no idea that I had any talent for long-distance running.

Bernhard worked for more than 20 years in the computer industry, designing laptops and selling equipment for companies such as Fujitsu and Unisys. He and his wife, Judy, a third-grade teacher, have two grown children. Tom is semi-retired, which leaves him more time to indulge his passion for all things track.

“I love to run, I love track and field,” he said. “I’ve been to the last three Olympic Trials and I got up early each morning to watch the World Championships on the internet. I wish more people were into it. A little skinny guy like me can watch Kenenisa Bekele, and if you’re big you follow the shot put or javelin. There’s something for everyone.”

At the 2009 nationals in Oshkosh, Bernhard enjoyed talking track with Frank Levine, the world record holder in the 5,000 meters for 95-year-olds.

“I think of myself as old at 58, and he’s 95,” Bernhard said. “I asked myself, am I going to be running 40 years from now? I sure hope so, because he’s having so much fun.”