Dick Beardsley
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Dick Beardsley (born March 21, 1956 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American long-distance runner. He was raised in a small farming community just outside of St. Paul, Minnesota. He grew-up on a dairy farm, which was owned by his parents.
He is, currently, the second fastest American born man in the marathon discipline. The world-class marathon competitor of the 1980s was a two-time Olympic qualifier runner and was joint winner of the first London Marathon in 2:11:48 (29 March 1981) together with Inge Simonsen (Norway), in which 7750 athletes took part.
His record time at Grandma's Marathon still stands after more than 20 years. Beardsley placed second on the heels of Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon.
In 1995 he founded the annual Dick Beardsley Half Marathon of Detroit Lakes where he lives. The most recent of these events was on September 9, 2006 (Dick Beardsley 1/2 Marathon, 5K Run, 5K Health Walk & Kids 1K).
Besides running the roads around the Detroit Lakes or the sugar sand beach, Beardsley is an experienced fishing guide and accomplished speaker.
Spring of 2007 will see the doors open on the new Dick Beardsley Running Company in Fargo, North Dakota.
Beardsley is one of the subjects of the 2006 book Duel in the Sun by John Brant. His autobiography, Staying the Course, was published in 2002 by the University of Minnesota Press.
