“It’s unbelievable that wherever I go, people still want to talk about that race. It beat me up more than any other race in my life.” – Dick Beardsley
Until recently I knew very little about Dick Beardsley. I vaguely remembered that he was involved in one of the greatest races ever, but that was about it. After reading his book, Beardsley has now become one of my favorite and most inspiring runners!
At the Grand Rapids Marathon expo in October 2009, I came across a bin of books on running. I scanned through this selection and realized that I had already read several of the books for sale. I stumbled upon Staying The Course: A Runner’s Toughest Race by Dick Beardsley (co-written by Maureen Anderson) and was captivated after having read the back cover. So I just had to purchase yet another running book!
I immediately started reading Staying The Course on the bus ride home after the marathon and plowed through it relatively quickly. Dick Beardsley’s story is gripping. In this memoir Beardsley recalls how his love for running evolved. As a teen he joined the cross-country team hoping to earn himself his varsity letter jacket, his ticket he believed, to landing more dates. He had tried out for other sports teams but lacked the skill and the size to crack the squads. Little did he know that running would become his life-long passion.
Beardsley had much success in high school and in college cross-country and track, but he always yearned to tackle the marathon distance. Although Dick was not following a proper marathon training program, and despite the fact that his coaches did not approve of him running the grueling events, Beardsley started secretly entering marathons. Beardsley’s ignorance and lack of experience during his first marathons forced him to remain humble and modify his training. Although he suffered in those early races, Dick kept signing up for one marathon after another and getting stronger, faster and more confident with every race. To this day, Dick Beardsley holds the Guinness Book World Record as the only man to run 13 consecutive personal best marathons.
Unfortunately for Beardsley, he is most famous for a race he didn’t even win, the 1982 Boston Marathon. Billed by many as the greatest marathon race ever, the “Duel in the Sun” pitted up-and-coming Beardsley against the marathon world record holder Alberto Salazar. Both runners set Boston course and American records on this day, but Salazar crossed the line a mere two seconds ahead of Beardsley. I believe that Dick and Alberto still remain in the top 5 all-time fastest American marathoners.
Salazar and Beardsley at finish of 1982 Boston Marathon
In Staying the Course the authors enrapture their readers in Dick’s recollection of this most memorable race. As I read through this chapter I was wishing I did not know the final result of the race. Also, the YouTube footage of the race does not do it justice as most of the camera shots are from an aerial camera and the picture quality not that clear. Beardsley’s account of the thick crowds of spectators (literally on the course as there were no barricades at this time), the police motorcycles all around the leaders and the runners’ bus billowing smoke while nearly driving over the racers is fascinating.
Following this race, Beardsley hit a streak of bad luck that would contribute to the unraveling of his running career. First some tendon problems and subsequent surgeries understandably slowed him down some, but on his road to recovery a horrifying farm accident occurred. While working on his farm Dick’s leg got caught in an auger attached to his tractor and the machine proceeded to toss him around like a ragdoll. Miraculously, Dick somehow managed to hit the emergency stop button on the machinery before it crushed him altogether. Few people have ever survived such an accident but Dick managed to escape death.
Not a shark attack! This is Beardsley's knee after farm accident.
Major leg and knee surgeries followed and Beardsley was never the same. To add insult to injury, over the next few years Dick was also involved in several freak car accidents. On one occasion his trucked slipped on an icy patch and rolled over several times. Another time while on a run down a country road is snowy conditions, a motorist did not see Dick and clipped and injured the runner. As Dick was recovering from one of his many surgeries, he lost consciousness and fell down the stairs in his home and broke his back. As these injuries and medical procedures increased, so did his dependency of pain medication.
The fight to beat this addiction became his toughest battle ever. Beardsley desperately needed his drugs and went so far as to forging prescriptions to get his bottles of Percocet. The law inevitably caught up to him but an understanding judge, coupled with his already impressive community involvement, saved him from a serious sentencing.
Dick Beardsley now works as a motivational speaker and his foundation “is a community-based organization created to educate children and young adults about the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle and to educate the public about the danger of drugs, including prescription drugs and the dangers of chemical.” He also owns a running store in Fargo, North Dakota; he has an online coaching program and is the Race Director of several events. Although no longer an elite runner, Beardsley has run several sub 2:50 marathons in the past decade. Yeah, he’s slow now!
To learn more, please check out: http://dickbeardsleyfoundation.org/
Gotta run,
Vince
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