Clockwork CEO Joe Berti Runs Boston Marathon for Champions4Children.org and Finishes Seconds Before the Explosions, Two Days Later He Witnesses West, TX Explosion - Blessed Not Lucky

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May 01, 2013, 02:05 ET

AUSTIN, Texas, May 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Clockwork has received many inquiries over the past two weeks regarding the company's CEO Joe Berti and his accounts of the explosions at the Boston Marathon and West, TX. To that request, we have provided this written account of Joe's experience and provide permission to use this statement to share his story.

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Everyone is asking Joe if he believes he was "lucky" or "unlucky" to have experienced both explosions in Boston and West, TX. His answer shocked most when he said "neither." It isn't a question of luck; Joe Berti and his family consider themselves "blessed" to be safe together after being present during such tragic events.

The story behind the blessing is one of charity and commitment. Eight weeks before the Boston Marathon, Joe was selected to be an Ambassador for Champions4Children.org, an Austin-based charity focused on helping kids with rare and undiagnosed diseases. Joe was running in the Boston Marathon for a boy named Drew who has a Chronic Immune Disorder with no known cure. As a parent, it was heart breaking and inspirational as Joe listened to this family speak about what they have been experiencing and how they pull through every day. Already a fitness advocate and spin-class instructor, Joe decided to run this race for such a great cause, pledged to raise $5000 and began focusing on ramping up his mileage for marathon distance.

He traveled with his wife Amy to Boston for the race where she stood at the sidelines near the finish line to cheer Joe as he finished the marathon. Minutes after Amy watched Joe cross the finish line the blasts began. It turns out Amy was within 10 feet of the first blast, she ducked into a doorway to get away from shrapnel and although safe, her pants were splattered in blood as the person next to her lost a limb and the fingers on one hand.

Over the next hour, chaos ensued as Joe and Amy attempted to find each other. Both of their cell phones batteries were dead and for a while, according to reports, authorities were jamming cell phones. Joe attempted to contact Amy by borrowing phones from strangers, while Amy looked for Joe in the medical tents and near the drop point for runners. After a while they both decided to go back to their hotel room to look for each other there. Arriving about the same time, an hour after the blast, Joe and Amy were re-united after one of the worst hours of their lives.

When the family arrived home to Austin on Wednesday, Joe was not shaken but strengthened in his feeling of being blessed to have survived when many others were injured or killed. Although he still felt emotionally connected to the other marathoners and spectators, he was determined to get his life back to normal. As for running the Boston Marathon in 2014 – Berti has no hesitation to participate again.

A couple of days later, Joe attended a leadership meeting in Dallas hosted by the company's investor, Teakwood Capital. On his way home Joe headed south on I-35 from Dallas to Austin when he saw black smoke coming from the side of the highway as he was driving by West, TX. A giant explosion occurred, a mushroom cloud filled the sky with what looked like a nuclear explosion and Joe's car shook. As expected, he was shocked to have witnessed such a large explosion and moments later he stopped at the side of the road to take a picture of the explosion. He then called Amy to let her know he witnessed a huge explosion but wasn't sure what caused this massive blast.

On Sunday, April 28^th, Joe and his family attended a medal giving ceremony where he gave his Boston Marathon finishers' medal to Drew.

Our heartfelt sympathy goes out all of those affected by these tragic events.

To view Joe Berti's CNN interview click here.

About Clockwork: Clockwork is a global leader of predictive analytics solutions for Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) that improve availability and reduce maintenance costs of capital intensive assets. With over 30 customers, the company provides cutting edge solutions that analyze asset data, provide performance visibility to each phase of an asset's life cycle, resulting in increased availability, improved utilization, and billions worth of cost savings and profitability. For more information visit www.clockwork-solutions.com

Clockwork Solutions, LLC. | 1 (800) 994-1336

SOURCE Clockwork