FYI

Here is an article from my hometown newspaper about my dad. Just wanted to share

Fenton Payne & Fred 5K Saturday
By MONTE HALE JR. • hale@dnj.com • August 22, 2008

Mark Hardison used to spend a lot of quality time with his father Payne as a young child.
The father and son, along with Fred Lovelace, would wake up in the wee hours on any given Saturday morning and head out to a 5 and/or 10K race.

By the time the young Hardison returned home, he had a good understanding about what was wrong about the particular race.
"I was getting up and 5:30 in the morning. We'd go to these 5Ks and 10Ks, and I would do the fun run," said Mark, a local dentist. "When they'd finish, they'd hop in the car and say there weren't enough bathrooms, the T-shirts weren't 100 percent cotton and this and that. Over the year, I compiled a list."
In the spring of 2003 — prior to Lovelace's 75th birthday — Mark, along with Payne's wife, Evelyn, and Lovelace's wife, Mary, decided to start a race in their honor.
Thus, the Fenton Payne and Fred 5K was born.
The fifth annual event will be held Saturday, beginning at Faulkinberry Drive on MTSU's campus at 7 a.m. Proceeds go to the Blue Raider Athletic Association and the Hope Clinic, and more than 600 runners are expected to compete in divisions ranging from 9-under to 80-over.
"It wasn't a real huge amount of planning," Mark said. "I knew Fred's 75th birthday was coming up because we have the same birthday — Aug. 1.
"They both love MTSU and worked at the hospital, so we decided let's do a run and give the proceeds to those two. I said something to mom and Mary about it and it all took off.
"We just started putting everything together. We wanted to do something between both of their birthdays, and it's more of a birthday celebration."
Lovelace said he and Payne Hardison were shocked upon hearing the news of a race in their honor.
"They didn't really approach us. They told us were going to an April Fool's party and when walked in there was a big sign saying the Fenton Payne and Fred 5K," said Lovelace, a longtime anesthesiologist. "Mark and the two wives had planned it all. We were completely dumbfounded."
Payne Hardison, who has run his own oral surgery practice for many years, said he initially thought a prank was being pulled on his friend Lovelace.
"I didn't know a thing about it," he said. "I thought it was for Fred. I told him, 'They really set you up,' but when they brought that banner out it had my name on it.
"The wonderful thing about it is it's developed to where the money helps the Hope Clinic. They had a couple of people back out and we've been able to supplement that. And the BRAA and MTSU is something Fred and I've been interested in for 40 something years. It's an honor for us to know it's helping charity. It's been worth the time and effort."
The Fenton Payne and Fred 5K run has raised approximately $150,000 the past four years and is a USATF certified race. Cash prizes will go to the overall winners and to the Grand Masters winners.
"When we put it together, I decided to do everything Fred and dad would want," Mark said. "We used to go to all these po-dunk towns and consistently Fred would complain about something from every event. He still does."