Nothing seems to come easy for Oakwood resident Garry Glenn.

When he went to bed last Sunday night, he wasn’t sure what the morning would bring. Sure, he’d put in a lot of training and dieting, and had qualified for the World Powerlifting Committee (WPC) Bench Press Championships by taking home first place in the state and national competitions, and coming in he felt pretty good about doing well.

But late Sunday afternoon, some sort of stomach ailment hit him and he spent the next 12 hours in and out of the bathroom.

"I suspect that it was a reaction to a lot of rich food off the breakfast bar," Glenn said. "After all that dieting, my stomach just revolted. Plus, competing on a world stage, you get a little nervous on top of that, and you don’t sleep well — at least I didn’t.

I was wondering if I’d have enough to lift my opening weight. I didn’t want to come all those thousands of miles for nothing. Thank goodness my roommate had some Pepto-Bismol and Imodium along."

The 53-year-old Glenn had enough left to make his opening two lifts Monday and win the Men’s 50-54 year old WPC Title at 82.5 kilograms (181.88 pounds) He weighed in at 81.95 kilograms (180.67 pounds) and finished with a lift of 145 kilograms (319.67 pounds).

"I tried 155 kilos (341.72 pounds), and got it about halfway or maybe a little more and just ran out of gas," Glenn said. "I had been really concerned about dehydration and weakness, but once I got my opening lift, I felt a little better. Once you tell them that opening lift, and it gets posted, you can’t change it, and you can’t go down in weight if you miss it."

This is the best individual WPC finish for Glenn, who had represented the U.S. at 90 kilograms (198.42 pounds) three years ago, finishing second at the World’s, while on the World Championship Bench Team. He has also won numerous gold medals at the Georgia State Games and was the Southern States Bench Press Champion in 2002 and the Big Dawg Classic winner in 2004. Over the past two years, he has had to comeback from prostate surgery and heart catheterization.

"We had a great time," Glenn said. "I got to see the guy from Germany who beat me three years ago, but this time we were in different classes so we both go home with golds. The camaraderie amongst the lifters is tremendous. My roommates also won medals, and I was very happy for them."

Jefferson’s Kendall Dean finished second in the Master’s Men’s 40-44, 100-kilogram class (220.46 pounds) to a lifter from the Czech Republic; Anthony (Andy) Williamson from Oglethorpe County was second in the Master’s Men’s 110 kilograms (242.51 pounds), finishing behind a French lifter, while his niece Brittany Montgomery came back on her last lift to win the Female 16-17 60-kilogram class (132.28 pounds) class.

Close to 200 athletes from at least 17 countries were present. The American Powerlifting Committee (APC) filled over 40 slots in the Bench Press and Full Powerlifting competitions in Calgary.