Book Authors: Dick Beardsley and Maureen Anderson
Review by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

When you examine the greatest runners from the First Running Boom, names like Frank Shorter, Alberto Salazar and Bill Rodgers, dominate the conversation, as they should. A name that is usually left out yet should be at least part of the discussion is Dick Beardsley. A 2:08:53 runner when running 2:08 made you a world class athlete, which Beardsley was.

Born in 1956 in Minnesota, started running in high school and then a little bit in college. He grew up in a home with alcoholic parents and had a knack for running, which always gave him the natural and addictive runner’s high. He jumped into his first marathon and just like that ran a 2:48. Little by little he realized there was some talent to work with and started getting better as he competed more. He holds a Guinness record of setting PR in his first 13 marathons.

In this well-crafted memoir, Beardsley takes the reader through his trials and tribulations of going from a good runner to world class in just a few years. He takes you through every race and every triumph in a way that any runner will not only enjoy but also relate, regardless of their marathon PR. The stories of looking at his old racing outfit hung by the hotel window at mile 25 of his 1981 Grandma’s Marathon win, or how he got his first sponsorship deal with New Balance and how he stood by them when another company tried to poach him the day before the 1982 Boston Marathon, are uplifting stories from someone who came from nothing to a household name.

Duel in the Sun in Boston 1982

His 1982 battle with Alberto Salazar, known as “The Duel in the Sun” is considered by many not just one of the best Boston Marathons but one of the best marathons ever. The detail on his preparation and the perspective from the front of the pack takes you right in there, as if almost 40 years later, you were spectating from the press truck.

But the sweet life, fame and fortune, were not to last. After holding the fourth-best time ever in the marathon, in Boston, none the less, a farm accident almost killed him opened the door to the world of painkillers and addiction. A series of accidents and misfortunes kept sending him back to the emergency and operating rooms where more and more drugs kept him hooked. Suddenly, obtaining painkillers became the focus and center of his life. Until he got caught forging prescriptions.

In the second part of the book, Beardsley and his coauthor go in extreme detail on how difficult it was to go through this phase of his life. The strain it caused on his family, his finance, his running, his relationships and his life. How big is the fall when you are coming from the top.

Years later, Beardsley has dedicated his life to working with people hooked on the grip or drugs, alcohol and painkillers. His perennial upbeat personality has been a perfect fit to his new mission. He is constantly making appearances and giving interviews about overcoming his toughest battle in life.

Staying the Course is a good book for anyone interested in learning about one of the great runners for the First Boom and in addition you can get an inspirational story about overcoming addiction and becoming a useful member of society once again.

The book was published in 2002, so it doesn’t cover part of his remarkable story and heartbreaks, like the divorce from Mary, who went through so much while staying by his side; or the suicide of his son, who was a veteran from the Iraq war. It is remarkable to see he hasn’t relapse. If ever comes a revised edition of this book, I am interested in knowing in more detail what has happened since 2002.