Customer Reviews

Staying the Course: A Runner's Toughest Race

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I sat down last night and picked up this book thinking I was going to read a few pages and go to bed. I ended up reading the entire thing.

I picked up my copy at the Boston Marathon Expo this year (my first marathon). Dick Beardsley was there and signing copies including mine. He didn't just sign it, but he wrote a personal message in every single one. Took the time to talk to everyone, asked me about my marathon coming up, etc. For several minutes.

So I figured, "OK, he's a nice guy but his book is probably not going to be memorable." But it was. The man thoroughly loved running from the beginning like few people ever do. It fires you up to hear him talk about it. Yes he was talented, but he did an amazing amount of work because he just plain loved it. He simply trained himself to world class level.

My favorite part was how he got shoe company sponsorship. At the time (around 1980) he was not much of a marathoner compared to the talent this country had (back then he'd "only" done 2:20 - fantastic by my standards but not by theirs, I guess). Still, he simply made his way into a shoe convention that was closed to the public and talked to shoe company reps (giving them his resume) until one of them (New Balance) took a chance to him. And when other companies tried to buy him off after he started doing well, he stayed loyal. Just a straight shooter.

I was there (in Wellesley Hills) for his famous "Duel in the Sun" with Salazar. His description of the race is worth the price alone. At the time he'd done 2:09 but most people didn't know who he was. We all knew about Alberto Salazar and Bill Rodgers, but "Beardsley?" Who was that? Yet here he was, this unknown, taking it right to the best marathoner in the world for the entire race. Never giving an inch. What an epic race.

Finally, he holds nothing back when talking about his subsequent problems with injuries, accidents, and addiction. Throughout it all, he's just the same guy. Straightforward, incredibly nice and a huge running fan.

Look, clearly this isn't Shakespeare. I give it 5 stars not because it's Pulitzer material but because it is well written and it grabs you. Yes, I bought it because I like running books, but it's more than that. It's part running book, part through-hell-and-back book. It's a straight ahead story of a genuine guy who made amazing achievements and came through astoundingly hard times. He doesn't brag or hide his mistakes or faults. He just tells you what happened and what he was thinking and you keep turning the pages.

I'm normally somewhat cynical, but you can't be about Dick Beardsley. You just like him too much and want him to succeed. After reading this, I was so fired up to train for my next marathon, I couldn't believe it. And this at was 2:00 A.M. two days after Boston when my legs were dead.

Incidentally, Beardsley ran Boston "easily" this year, just for fun and only finished a couple of minutes behind me!

-Joe O'Leary

This is a book for any running aficionado (especially the veterans), who has gone out there and run distance. It's also a great story and inspiration for anybody who has run a marathon and in particular Boston. The mass start in Hopkinton, the crowds, the cheers at Wellesley, Heartbreak Hill in Newtown, coming through the Fenway, and on to the finish at the Boston Public Library. The 1982 race was perhaps the best one ever run and Beardley took us back there in the first person. Beardley takes any runner to the soul of this sometimes underappreciated sport. Spectacular!

This story of a great runner who had to face many of life's adversities left me wanting. From the start I had the feeling many parts of his life were being glossed over (What did it feel like to grow up in that house? Why did he quit college? How did he meet his wife?). The racing and training sequences were great. The section on his Boston Marathon was outstanding. When his injuries force him to give up running the narative gets choppy again and seems to lack insight. The farm accident was interesting, enlightening and horrifying. Much more could have been done with his descent into the world of drug addiction and the pain it caused his family (it may have been me but I never got a feel for his wife and son ). I did enjoy this book . Dik Beardsley seems like a great guy. It is an extremely fast read but it left me feeling it could have been much better.

I'm fortunate enough to be a Minnesota runner who has followed Dick's life since he first started well after college. How he got there was fascinating to me. It is a testament to the human will to see a person that faces such adversity, some perchance and some self-imposed, and to bounce back. He is still running, after all this. I've bought this book for other runners and I always get the same response "I read it more than once".

I'm not a big reader, but I read this and was rivetted. I challenge anyone, runner or non-runner, to buy this and finish it without being changed a little.

My hat's off to Dick and Mary Beardsley (Mary for sticking it out).

Dick Beardsley appeared at the Grandma's Marathon in June 2002 where I heard him speak. He was so inspiring, I decided to buy his book. He graciously signed each book and talked to each person as if you were his new best friend.
His book is a reflection of his friendly personality and the intensity he brings to whatever he does. He recounts some great anecdotes including how he secured a running sponsership and how he had no choice but to run over a child when he won Grandma's Marathon in 1981. Then he touchingly describes the numerous accidents he experienced, his subsequent addictions to pain pills, and the struggles to overcome them.
Inspiring for both runners and non-runners. Beardsley is the kind of guy who has what it takes to perserve and make bad into good. His book will get you fired up to do so yourself.

I met Dick at the Fargo Marathon Expo a couple of weeks ago. At the time I didn't really know who he was except for a famous marathoner who's running career was way before my time. After the Marathon I came home and looked him up and within minutes, I ordered this book. When it came I sat down and read it in one sitting. It kept me on the edge of my seat for every page! What an amazing athlete and an even greater person! This is an amazing story that every runner (or any athlete for that matter) should read. After his numerous horrific accidents, endless injuries, and countless surgeries this man still chooses to do what he loves: run. It is truly an inspiring story. I wish I would have read this before I met Dick but I look forward to seeing him again and having my copy signed at The Dick Beardsley Half Marathon this Fall.

My marathon days were in the years when Dick was one of the best, so I remember many of the races described. I didn't expect, however, such a candid picture of his early years and the tough years following the glory years. Dick is back running a few marathons now (Grandmas, Madison, Boston) and he is an inspiration to a guy who hasn't run one in 14 years. Thanks Dick.

Dick Beardsley exemplifies courage and endurance. He is a great champion as a runner and as a humanitarian.
I have greatly enjoyed reading this book, and give it my highest recommendation! You will want to read it non stop.

Dick Beardsley was an incredible comet on the marathon scene in the early 1980s that came out of a small town in north midwest and suddenly was a world class marathoner. Naive, exhuberent, still on a learning curve as a he entered the world class level of racing and by 182 he is running in the most exciting Boston Marathhon of all time against the world leading Alberto Salazar. As rapid as his ascent, his descent starts abuptly, beset by injuries and over periods of 5 years has an incredible series of accidents on the farm, car, running and bike accidents that literally destroy his body resulting in drug addiction. What is so captivating about the book is not just the series of sudden events from the rapid rise to crushing injuries but Beardsly's forthright, honest and refreshingly friendly way of telling his story with the help of writer Maureen Anderson. Anderson's guidance is lightly applied as Beardsly tells the story pretty much in his own words. Beardsly pure enjoyment of racing and life itself demonstrates why Beardsly was about as popular as Bill Rodgers as a likeable, approachable, regular guy. In fact during that great Boston race, Rodgers chats with Beardsly and kids him enroute as if each, although very competetive, can enjoy the company of the other. The number of catastrophic events to Beardsly is virtually unimaginable and you literally share his pain and embarrassment of his drug addiction. But the book is not a downer at all as Beardsly, in recover, learns more about himself and learns to truly appreciate his family. A stingingly difficult detox from methadone, the worst drug to get off according to his doctor, gives great insight on the body's dependencies on addiction and how difficult and painful it is to break from it. But Beardsly is inspiring and as he notes, he will always be an addict and be tempted, and he survives to be a very vibrant speaker and succesful man.

Yessiree, I give it 5 stars as a running book. I was finding I was docking some books and CDs; because I approached it like, is it perfect enough to get the highest rating like a Shakespeare play or a symphony?

I go with the genre it belongs too; and too, I'd say those who have had substance abuse/alcohol problems would find it inspiring too; cause Dick became addicted to pain killers; and did some things; that were indeed wrong.

It's a good book for athletes, cause Dick's body did start to break down some; even away from his being prone to some bad accidents. It makes me ponder, we hear about so many athletes who later end up being not in the best shape because of their sports career, say like Larry Bird. It makes you think, it's great to run that great Boston Marathon in '82; but is it worth it in the long run.

I agree, the book may have minor blemishes, might be choppy in parts in the latter half of the book, but it shouldn't keep anyone from reading it, indeed, some of this could have been expanded on.

It's a good book, kind of for your couples too; I mean, I admire his wife, Maureen, for staying with Dick; for her care, love and also standing up to him some.

I definitely, would like to read "Duel in the Sun" to continue reading on Mr. Beardsley, really, along with his rival at the Boston Marathon, Alberto Salazar and along with "Pre" Prefontaine himself; there certainly is more to read on these famous track runners from America.

As Dean Karnazes' book UltraMarathon Man is getting to be compulsory reading for Greeks (but not only them of course), I think Minnesotans and those from the surrounding areas should read this one, especially if they are interested in the sport.

Beardsley reminds me a bit of the great American cyclist from the turn of the century (meaning near 1900) Major Taylor, in that his glory descended into lows.

After going through this book, I am still contemplating parts of it and how we and history will see Dick, but I definitely would wish him and his family the best. Some parts of it, really are astonishing; and it is astonishing as a whole. He certainly has given a lot to the Marathon.