The amazing race for three local runners

Three men. Three age groups. Twenty-six miles.
Good things are going to come in threes for Wellsville’s Michael Berardi, Steve Chaffee and Ron Wightman during the 115th running of the Boston Marathon in April.
All three distance runners have different levels of experience, different ages, but they have trained together and somehow all are nailing down qualifying times to start together in Boston. Prestigious races like Boston and the New York City Marathon only allow elite runners who hit specific qualifying times.
For Berardi, who is new to the sport, the clock was ticking.
Two weeks ago, the man most known for his walking (around Giant Food Mart where he is president and owner), ran the Corning Wineglass Marathon with hopes of qualifying for Boston. Competing in the age 40 to 44 bracket, Berardi had to finish in 3 hours and 20 minutes.
He finished 27th in his age group and 183rd out of 1,486 runners. But as he crossed the finish line, he looked up and saw he missed the cutoff for Boston by 8 seconds.
“After about 15 minutes, I realized the finish line time is not my actual time because we have (computer chips) on our sneakers,” said Berardi. “I went from sitting down exhausted to looking for the official results.”
The official result: Berardi crossed the finish line with 9 seconds to spare, qualifying for Boston.
While Ridgewalk and Run founder Rich Shear is not running Boston, the Iron Man gets a lot of credit for sparking interest in distance running and pushing his friends to succeed.
“Rich is the pioneer that got many local runners on their way including myself,” said Berardi. “He got Ron, Steve and myself interested in going to the Grand Canyon for the Rim to Trim to Rim in May of 2008 and 2010.
“Rich was instrumental helping me through the difficulties of getting started. Four years ago I was in his store weekly for advice. And he was never short on words,” Berardi continued. “My goal is to be like Rich and hopefully help inspire others to get into the great sport of running.”
Steve Chaffee, 46, ran the Montreal Marathon in October and qualified for Boston with a time of 3 hours and 21 minutes. He is looking forward to Boston.
“It will be a blast. The last time I went, Ron ran, but we were in different starting positions. Mike and I should be able to start side-by-side. It will be fun because it’s Mike’s first Boston, so it’s going to be fun for him.”
Chaffee is a veteran of the New York City Marathon and has run Boston once. He has a goal to run 50 marathons by age 50. He is at 47 and if he runs this month in Niagara Falls and then a second he has planned, Boston will be 50.
“I will hit that goal and 50 might be Boston,” said Chaffee, who started running in high school with track and field and cross country. “I ran in college on my own, not on a team. I think I do it to keep my sanity. It’s fun, I enjoy it and at times I really get into the training. I enjoy the other runners and going to the races.”
Chaffee said he is impressed with his two running partners.
“Mike’s been running really great, to qualify for Boston in his first marathon is amazing, I couldn’t do that. He has a schedule, he researches and he trains for the race. Mike and I ran a lot together that’s why our qualifying times are so similar,” said Chaffee. “Ron is amazing — I don’t know how he runs as fast as he does and whether it’s a marathon or a shorter race, he does so well he always always wins. He is 61 and to watch him is encouraging because I hope to be doing that at his age and make those times.”
Wightman laughs. He is very modest, but at 61 years old, he is in such great shape he gets asked for his identification to make sure he’s over 21.
“People guess my age and give me an extra 10 to 15 years. I think running has helped me stay young and in shape for everything else I want to do in life,” said Wightman.
Berardi started running in his 40s, Chaffee in high school and Wightman in his 30s with some 10Ks. he ran his first marathon at 40 and has not looked back.
“I am going to try one more time to qualify for Boston to see if I can nail down the same time they got, that way the three of us can all start together — that will be cool,” said Wightman. “It is unique to have three people from the same area run in this race and being able to run close to each other.”
Wightman has run the Boston Marathon three times and 13 overall. He said Boston is his favorite because of the atmosphere.
“Steve has dedication loves his running,” said Wightman. “Seeing Mike get really excited about it as a new runner is fun for us — he sets some high goals. I’m really looking forward to this.”