Dick Beardsley | |
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| Born | March 21, 1956 |
| Occupation(s) | Runner, author, motivational speaker Fishing Guide (www.dickbeardsleyfishingguide.com ) |
| Website | Official Website |
Dick Beardsley (born March 21, 1956) is an American long-distance runner best known for tying for first place with Inge Simonsen in the inaugural 1981 London Marathon and his close finish with Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon.
Beardsley ran his first marathon in 2:47:14 at the 1977 Paavo Nurmi Marathon in Hurley, Wisconsin. In subsequent marathons, he steadily lowered his times: 2:33:22, 2:33:06, and 2:31:50. Beardsley is the only man to have ever run 13 consecutive personal bests in the marathon, and is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the feat. [1]
In 1981 he and Norwegian Inge Simonsen intentionally crossed the finish line together holding hands in a time of 2:11:48. [2] According to Beardsley, "It was a big deal for both of us because neither one of us had won a marathon before." [3]
His finish time of 2:09:37 at the 1981 Grandma's Marathon stood as a course record for 33 years until it was broken in 2014. [4] Beardsley placed second (2:08:53) on the heels of Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon, [5] breaking the Boston Marathon course record and the American record.
In 2003 he started the Dick Beardsley Marathon Running Camp, which used to be held each September at Rainbow Resort in Waubun, Minnesota, [6] but which are now held at Lake Bemidji, Minnesota.
Beardsley is one of the subjects of the book Duel in the Sun , published in 2006 by John Brant. His memoir, Staying the Course: A Runner's Toughest Race, was co-authored by Maureen Anderson and published in 2002 by the University of Minnesota Press. [7]
In 2010, Beardsley was inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame. [8]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing the  United States | ||||
| 1981 | London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 1st | 2:11:48 |
| Grandma's Marathon | Duluth, United States | 1st | 2:09:37 | |
| 1982 | Grandma's Marathon | Duluth, United States | 1st | 2:14:50 |
| Boston Marathon | Boston, United States [9] | 2nd | 2:08:53 | |
In November 1989, Beardsley nearly died in a farm mishap; he required five months to recuperate. Between July 1992 and February 1993, he was involved in three serious automobile accidents, each requiring hospitalization for back and neck injuries. While on a hike, he was hurt after falling down an embankment when the path collapsed. He underwent three back operations in 1994 and knee surgery in 1995. [10] [11]
After each of his injuries, Beardsley was prescribed medication for the pain. Over four years, he developed an addiction to the medication. He was arrested September 30, 1996, for forging prescriptions [10] and sentenced to five years' probation and 460 hours of community service. [12] Beardsley spent nine days in a psychiatric unit where he was prescribed methadone. He was released for outpatient treatment, returned to inpatient treatment where he quit methadone, and again began outpatient treatment. [10] His first day of chemical-free sobriety was February 12, 1997. [11]
Beardsley started the Dick Beardsley Foundation in October 2007 [13] to provide assistance to individuals suffering from chemical dependency who are unable to pay for a 12-step treatment program. The foundation's goals are to educate the general public about chemical dependency. It allows Beardsley to speak about his own experience in overcoming addiction. [14] [15]
Beardsley married Mary in 1979. They adopted one son, Andrew. They later divorced and Beardsley moved to Austin, Texas in 2007 and remarried.[ citation needed ] In August 2010, it was reported that Beardsley and his wife had filed for bankruptcy. Beardsley's wife Jill said that they filed to consolidate IRS debt. [16] In another tragic turn, in October 2015 Dick lost his beloved 31-year-old son Andrew, a veteran of the war in Iraq, to suicide.
In 2016 Dick and Jill moved to Bemidji, MN where Dick continues his career in motivational/inspirational speaking and also has a fishing guide service. They are also the owners of Lake Bemidji Bed & Breakfast.
In 2023 Dick started a podcast with long-time friend and fellow marathon runner Mike Dunlap called On The Run With Beards And Dun.
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of 42.195 km, usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair divisions. More than 800 marathons are held throughout the world each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes, as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants.
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was inspired by the success of the first marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world's best-known road racing events. It is one of six World Marathon Majors. Its course runs from Hopkinton in southern Middlesex County to Copley Square in Boston.
Alberto Salazar is an American former track coach and long-distance runner. Born in Cuba, Salazar immigrated to the United States as a child with his family, living in Connecticut and then in Wayland, Massachusetts, where Salazar competed in track and field in high school. Salazar won the New York City Marathon three times in the early 1980s, and won the 1982 Boston Marathon in a race known as the "Duel in the Sun". He set American track records for 5,000 m and 10,000 m in 1982. Salazar was later the head coach of the Nike Oregon Project. He won the IAAF Coaching Achievement Award in 2013.
Grandma's Marathon (Grandma's) is an annual road race held each June in Duluth, Minnesota, in the United States. The course runs point-to-point from the city of Two Harbors on Scenic Route 61 and continues along Lake Superior into the city of Duluth. The finish is located in Canal Park, near Grandma's Restaurant, which is next to the highly visible Aerial Lift Bridge.
Sports in Minnesota include professional teams in all major sports, Olympic Games contenders and medalists, especially in the Winter Olympics, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations and active amateur teams and individual sports. The State of Minnesota has a team in all five major professional leagues. Along with professional sports, there are numerous collegiate teams including the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and St. Thomas Tommies in NCAA Division I, as well as many others across the Minnesota public and private colleges and universities.
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Galen Rupp is an American long-distance runner. He competed in the Summer Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2021 in Tokyo. He won the silver medal in the men's 10,000 meters in London and the bronze medal in the men's marathon in Rio de Janeiro. Rupp competed for the University of Oregon and trained under Alberto Salazar as a member of the Nike Oregon Project. He won the 2017 Chicago Marathon, becoming the first American to do so since Khalid Khannouchi in 2002. Rupp won the marathon at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta with a time of 2:09:20, and qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, where he finished eighth.
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