Duel in the Sun: Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America's Greatest Marathon is a 2006 book by freelance sportswriterJohn Brant. Expanded from an article featured in Runner's World magazine, the book tells the story of two American distance runners, Dick Beardsley and Alberto Salazar, and how their lives changed after both men ran the 1982 Boston Marathon. Brant, a regular contributor to Runner's World since 1985 and a contributing editor at Outside, uses a writing style in the book that relies heavily on flashbacks and foreshadowing. The result of this style is that the story of the marathon and the story of the two men's lives are told simultaneously throughout the book.
Although the book has a plot and often reads like a work of fiction, it is in fact a non-fiction work, and the events described in the book actually occurred in real life.
Plot summary
The early part of the book describes the preparations that Beardsley and Salazar underwent before the marathon, along with many other aspects of the men's running backgrounds and personal lives.
There are three concurrent story lines: Beardsley's life, Salazar's life, and the marathon itself. It is revealed early on that Salazar, who was already a renowned distance runner in the late 1970s and early '80's, was the favorite to win Boston. Beardsley, described as a small-town farmboy, is clearly the underdog. But as the race progresses and the stories of the two men's lives are developed in greater detail, it becomes clear that both men will have a chance at winning the Boston Marathon, for Americans the most prestigious in the world.
The story gradually becomes an intense contest between Beardsley and Salazar as they leave the rest of the runners behind during the latter part of the marathon. The title comes from the two men's shadows cast by the hot sun onto the pavement as they run "in each other's pockets" during the final miles of the race, and anticipation builds as to who will win the "duel." The shadow is also featured prominently on the cover of the first edition as part of the title.
After the race, the lives of both runners spiral downhill. The book describes in detail Salazar's depression and compromised immune system, and Beardsley's industrial accident and drug addiction.
Connection to Cuba and Fidel Castro
Salazar's father, Jose Salazar, was a Cubanexpatriat who had fought alongside Fidel Castro to overthrow the government of Fulgencio Batista in the 1950s. Jose Salazar remained a Castro supporter until Castro assumed power and aligned with the communists. This story and the influence it had on Alberto Salazar is told in some detail in one of the flashbacks during the early part of the book.
Criticism and praise
The book has received positive reviews for its message, which some critics consider to be inspirational and uplifting.
Other critics complain that the unique narrative style "creates distance instead of allowing readers into the runners' heads."
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.
This list is a chronological progression of record times for the marathon. World records in the marathon are now ratified by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics.
The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishers in 2019 and 98,247 applicants for the 2017 race. Along with the Boston Marathon and Chicago Marathon, it is among the pre-eminent long-distance annual running events in the United States and is one of the World Marathon Majors.
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.
Francois Robert "Rob" de Castella is an Australian former world champion marathon runner.
Alan Lawrence Culpepper is an American distance runner and two time United States Olympian. Along with competing on four World Championship teams, his accomplishments include finishing fourth in the Boston Marathon in 2005, winning the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon and finishing 12th at the 2004 Olympic marathon in Athens. His 2:09:41 at the 2002 Chicago Marathon tied him with Alberto Salazar for the fastest ever debut marathon by an American, and remains his fastest marathon. Culpepper has won three U.S. Cross Country titles and three track titles. His personal bests include 3:55.1 for the mile, 13:25 for 5k and 27:33 in the 10k.
Dick Beardsley 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.
Long slow distance (LSD) is a form of aerobic endurance training used in sports including running, rowing, skiing and cycling. It is also known as aerobic endurance training, base training and Zone 2 training. Physiological adaptations to LSD training include improved cardiovascular function, improved thermoregulatory function, improved mitochondrial energy production, increased oxidative capacity of skeletal muscle, and increased utilization of fat for fuel. Ernst van Aaken, a German physician and coach, is generally recognized as the founder of the LSD method of endurance training.
Rodgers Rop is a long-distance runner from Kenya.
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.
The men's marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, was held on Sunday August 12, 1984. The race started at 5:00 pm local time. There were 107 competitors from 59 countries. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. A total number of 78 athletes completed the race.
Duel in the Sun may refer to:
Greg Meyer is an American long-distance runner. Meyer's winning time for the 1983 Boston Marathon race was 2:09.00. He was the last American to win the Boston Marathon until 2014, and the last person born in America to win the Chicago Marathon until 2017. He set ten American road racing records and two world records, and won the River Bank Run, in his home town of Grand Rapids, seven times.
Eamonn Thomas Martin is an English former elite long distance runner.
William Squires was an American track and field coach. He was well known for coaching the Greater Boston Track Club at the height of its marathon success, including marathoners Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and Greg Meyer.
Andrew Bumbalough is a runner who specialized in various middle and long distances in track. He represented the United States at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup. After graduating from Georgetown University, Bumbalough went to train in Oregon with Coach Schumacher and fellow athletes Tim Nelson, Matt Tegenkamp, Evan Jager and Chris Solinsky. In 2011, Bumbalough finished fourth in the 5000m at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships behind Bernard Lagat, Galen Rupp and teammate Chris Solinsky.
Keith Alan "KB" Brantly is an American former professional long-distance runner who contended in the men's marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Brantly finished twenty-eighth of one hundred and eleven runners who completed the race, in a time of 2:18:17. He is recognized for his extensive distance-running career that encompasses nearly three decades at distances that range from one mile to a marathon.
Bob Wallace was a runner from Croydon, Victoria, Australia. He was best known for running the marathon, with a PR of 2:13:14 in 1981.
Fred Torneden is an American mid- and long-distance runner who won several road racing victories in the 1980s and set the American record for the 20-mile distance in 1984. He competed for the United States at the first IAAF World Marathon Cup in 1985. He later became a coach and a pastor. He served as a children's pastor at Rock Hills Church in Manhattan, Kansas while continuing to run competitively at the masters level.
Dan Schlesinger is an American lawyer and artist who was a former long-distance running athlete. He was the third-place finisher at the 1982 New York City Marathon and was in the top 10 finishers at the 1983 and 1986 Boston Marathons.
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