ThumbsUp International in the Media
Watch these powerful, multiple award-winning ThumbsUp documentaries and select interviews, using sports as a metaphor to showcase what every body can do together through teamwork and trust.
Directed by Julio Mendez, the head of Creative Mountain Studio, these documentaries summarize ThumbsUp International’s mission and goal. They form the base of our Race2Educate program which we present to students in elementary grade to university level.
& find where our co-chairs have been featured in news/media below!
Presents our key values: the critical need for mutual respect and trust along with the benefits of teamwork, inclusion, of diversity and perseverance. We customarily follow the film with a Q & A. The combo - the documentary and the reactions - always yield surprises and enlightenment for the audience as well as for us. The documentary is said to have changed lives.
Chronicles ThumbsUp’s first Guinness World Record. We set it as the only duo team (able/disabled) in the Florida Xtreme Triathlon, a race from Florida’s Gulf to its Atlantic coast. We finished in second place overall amongst the women.
Eli - educate*love*inspire” Features Elijeah “Eli” DeArmas, our young Race2Educate superchamp. Eli’s triumphs represent our dreams, our future.
Psychology Today: Racing From Trauma to Triumph
Two women demonstrate the power of forgiveness, teamwork, and resiliency.
On the 50th anniversary of Kerry's attack, the duo's partnership is framed as a model of post-traumatic growth, forgiveness, and the psychology of resilience — written by Miami psychiatrist Dr. Eva Ritvo.
Social media and LinkedIn profiles confirming Caryn as a lululemon legacy ambassador and Kerry's lululemon connection — identifying the warmest potential sponsor relationship.
PRLog press release on the 2023 Marine Corps 50K result and GWU speaking engagement — confirms 5:05:13 finishing time, 1st in category, and all three GWRs.
GWU official news on Kerry and Caryn speaking to Prof. Nils Olsen's 'Extreme Decisions' course after the 2023 Marine Corps 50K.
Official Guinness World Records page documenting the fastest marathon pushing a wheelchair (female) — Lubetsky/Gruson held the record from 2019 until 2023 when a Belgian team broke it.
FIU ArtSpeak International Women's Month video interview series featuring Kerry (June 2021) and Caryn (March 2022) — covers ThumbsUp founding, documentary work, and Race2Educate.
Deep Miami New Times profile on Kerry's philosophy of radical forgiveness toward the Vietnam veteran who attacked her.
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Psychology Today:
From Near Death to Thriving: A Case History of Hope
Strangled and left for dead, Gruson now has multiple world sports records.
Dr. Eva Ritvo's first Psychology Today piece on Kerry and Caryn — confirms 2 Guinness World Records, three Emmy-winning documentaries, and introduces the Harvard Medical School webinar connection.
In-depth Q&A with Caryn covering her athletic origin story, the Badwater 135, the Guinness triathlon record, and childhood cancer fundraising — framed around elite endurance performance.
Caryn runs 150 miles nonstop through Miami during COVID to raise funds for the Childhood Cancer Project, completing the feat in 38 hours and 3 minutes.
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Full 5-minute GMA video segment by Faith Bernstein, Will Linendoll, and Elissa Nunez covering the NYC Marathon Guinness World Record attempt.
Two women break the Guinness World Record for fastest marathon pushing a wheelchair at the 2019 NYC Marathon, demonstrating the power of partnership across ability.
Community profile of Caryn as a Miami lawyer-athlete who runs for those who can't — emphasizing her philanthropic fundraising record and her role pushing Kerry in multiformat races.
Facebook photo post documenting Caryn and Kerry at the 2018 Sommer Sports Florida Xtreme Triathlon — the race series where they set GWR #1 (most triathlons hauling another person in one month, female).
Race coverage of Caryn and Kerry at Ironman Cozumel 2017, with organizers anticipating a Guinness World Record for fastest duo triathlon.
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Miami New Times:
Kerry Gruson, a Paralyzed, Legendary Journalist, Completes Florida Ironman With Miami Teammate
Miami New Times feature on Caryn and Kerry completing their first Ironman together at Panama City Beach — kayak flip, Race2Educate program, and the roots of the partnership.
Brady & Eli
Brady and Eli conquer the Miami Marathon in 2025, proof that together we can make anything possible. In 2024, they ran the Half Marathon together.
