Duel in the Sun: Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America's Greatest Marathon [Hardcover]

John Brant (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 21, 2006

John Brant re-creates the tense drama of the 1982 Boston Marathon--and the powerful forces of fate that drove these two athletes in the years afterwards
"One was a humble farm boy from Minnesota. The other was the most electrifying distance runner of his time. In 1982, they battled stride for stride for more than two hours in the most thrilling Boston Maraton ever run. Then the drama really began. . . ." Thus John Brant sets the stage for the epic race that took place 23 years ago between Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley. Since Beardsley was only 26 and Salazar 23 at the time, everyone assumed that this would be the start of a long and glorious rivalry.

Instead Beardsley soon began a descent into drug addiction that brought him perilously close to dying. Salazar's decline was more gradual, his vigor slowly giving way to baffling symptoms that left him completely exhausted. Brant's portraits of the painkiller-addicted Beardsley and the depression-plagued Salazar are at once sensitive and hair-raising. The supporting characters are also richly drawn, from Alberto's father, Jose Salazar, a towering presence with a fascinating history and a former close friend of Fidel Castro, to Bill Squires, Beardsley's coach, a Casey Stengel-like figure whose oddball goofiness masks an encyclopedic knowledge of distance running. This elegantly written story is riveting nonfiction at its very best.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1982, Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley ran the entire 26.2 miles of the Boston Marathon neck and neck, finishing within two seconds of each other. For both, it was the pinnacle of a running career cut short, for Salazar because of a mysterious malaise, and for Beardsley because of a drug addiction that developed after a farm accident. Brant, a Runner's World writer, weaves the tension of the race into the story of the decline of both runners. He's clearly a running enthusiast; few others would write of the race as "one of the signature moments in the history of distance running—perhaps, in the history of any sport." The story is sad yet triumphant; despite the end of serious running careers, both men made successes of their lives. Brant tells their tales reverently; his style creates distance instead of allowing readers into the runners' heads. While Brant's writing tends to be unfocused and melodramatic (when describing the women watching the marathon, he writes that they sounded "like Zulu women ululating on the hot road to Durban, raging gleeful keening"), runners especially will enjoy the suspense of the race. B&w photo insert. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Within the running community, the 1982 Boston Marathon is arguably the most memorable race in the modern era. It was a neck-and-neck battle between the favorite, Alberto Salazar, and an upstart at what would be the zenith of a sudden, meteoric rise, Dick Beardsley. Brant, a contributor to Runner's World since 1985, re-creates the principals' careers leading up to the race, describes the race itself, and, most significantly, analyzes its aftermath. Neither runner was ever the same again. Beardsley suffered a mind-boggling series of physical setbacks that led to a serious addiction to pain killers. Salazar gradually slid into a paralyzing depression. Many inspirational sports stories, both fiction and nonfiction, center on individuals who found themselves trapped by some form of destructive self-indulgence before battling their way to the top. Neither the ebullient Beardsley nor the regal Salazar chose their personal burdens, but each approached life as a marathon, and both have overcome adversity and are now cruising comfortably down the stretch. Two inspiring tales, well told. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books; 1ST edition (February 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594862621
• ISBN-13: 978-1594862625
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #208,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great story, book could have used more work April 10, 2006

By A. Reader

Format:Hardcover

I remember the '82 Boston marathon well, and was thrilled to discover this book. The story of the race between Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley is fascinating, and for the most part it is well told here. However, the book could have used a little more refinement before publication. It is repetitious at points and lacks detail at many others. For example, the author includes a chapter on Salazar's comeback victory in the '94 Comrades ultramarathon, which is an amazing story in its own right. However, that chapter is a mere five pages long, including the large font first page, with several italicized sections surrounded by white space. That's pretty skimpy.

As much as I enjoyed reading about the race, I was often frustrated at wanting to know more detail than the author provided. If the story itself wasn't so compelling, I'd give this book three stars -- not because what was published isn't good reading, but because there's so much more that could have been done to tell the story more fully.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Racing Past The Finish Line September 9, 2006

By County Lineman

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Like running a marathon, there are great highs and some steep lows in Duel in the Sun, but it is well worth the read.

Author John Brant chronicles the lives of Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley before and after their epic stride-for-stride thriller in the 1982 Boston Marathon. It was a struggle between two athletes seemingly racing toward peak years of performing on the international stage. But the race took more out of each runner than anyone imagined.

Salazar - perhaps the last great American distance runner - was a superstar on the track, grass and the roads and had the cockiness of Jimmy Connors while delivering a KO punch on his opponents like the young George Foreman. Beardsley was the "everyman's" runner, whose times at a variety of shorter distances paled to his competition, but was coming of age physically and financially in the long distances on the roads.

The book is as much biography and history as much as a review of the race. At times it seems as if Brant is rushed in his writing, which is surprising since the text is a light 203 pages, with the photograph section in that count.

But it is penned at a time when the running boom has long-since cooled, but raced when events like the Boston Marathon commanded front-page stories on sports pages and magazines, and oftentimes covered for hours on live regional or national TV.

And perhaps the best lesson learned is not what happened during the cheers of the fans as Salazar and Beardsley matched strides to the tape, but how that two hour and nine minute journey impacted their lives after the finish line.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Duel In The Sun July 5, 2006

By Will Dillard

Format:Hardcover

I had previously read Beardsley's book "Staying The Course: A Runner's Toughest Race" so I knew most of the details about the 1984 Boston Marathon but "Duel in the Sun" is an excellent book due to the behind the scenes details of not only the race but the lives of Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley. You don't have to be a marathon runner to truely appreciate what these two men went through in their lives as well as in their running.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good but short and sometimes repetitive. March 28, 2006

By Cory K. Schmidt

Format:Hardcover

This book tells two stories. The first is a recap of the 1982 "Duel in the Sun" Boston Marathon in which Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley run within inches of one another for the entire race - arguably the most exciting distance race ever.

The second story tells about the lives of the two very different men - both of which face their own failures and triumphs.

Both stories are interesting but in my opinion could have been more in depth. I read the book in a little over one day. The book was rather thin to begin with and the font was quite large and often there would be a blank page between chapters. Also there were some things, especially in the stories of the men's lives, that were repeated multiple times. I felt that it read more like a very long magazine article rather than a book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Empathy for the stars May 19, 2007

By James A. Neviackas

Format:Hardcover

That April day in 82 was incredible, very few were heat acclimated. I trained in the midwest and was not. The race was run at noon adn I had heard the high was 75. The road seemed to be on fire. Beardsley had the advantage of heat training Salazar not. I was only a few minutes behind them but blew up at the base of hill #2 (Auberndale station).

The book gives a good accounting of the race and the battle of these fellows. The painfull part is their physical and emotional catastrophies after such a great performance.

Whether it be the marathon, Ironman or other endurance event one is never the same afterward. You gain experience but you also leave some of yourself behind.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story April 10, 2007

By Igor Reyes

Format:Hardcover

As a beginner in the running world I found it comforting to know that these two extraordinary god-like runners are as human as I am. This book talks about the pitfalls of a high-pressured life and as a bonus we get to meet two legendary runners. They truly are extraordinary human beings. Even if you don't run this book is a great read.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Duel in the Sun" Shines March 12, 2006

By PHSCC

Format:Hardcover

If you are/were a competitive distance runner (particularly from the mid-'70s to mid-'80s), you'll really enjoy this book. Not only is the race itself examined, but so are the lives (both before and after the race) of the two runners (Salazar and Beardsley) involved in this "duel". These two runners couldn't have been more different;their contrasts make the story that much more appealing. While the runners didn't realize it at the time, this one race ended up being not only the focal point of their running careers, but also their lives. This particular race, the 1982 Boston Marathon, can rightly claim the distinction of being one of the greatest American distance races of all time (and one of the last). Even the contrasts between distance running today and 20+ years ago add to the story. In many ways, just like the two runners themselves, American distance running has never been the same.