Motivational. Inspirational. Captivating. Dick Beardsley is a best selling author and professional speaker who speaks at sporting events, schools, non-profit organizations, and corporations. His comfortable style and inspiring message has endeared him to audiences all over the world.  In 2002, Dick received the Minnesota Meeting & Events Assoc. "Best Speaker Award." 

Dick's Amazing Story

For a brief moment in the early '80s Dick Beardsley became the most famous runner in the world - by losing a race. In the 1982 Boston Marathon, Beardsley, foiled by a motorcycle that cut him off near the end, finished two seconds behind Alberto Salazar in a contest often called one of the most memorable in marathon history. It was the closest finish ever at the world's premier marathon, and both runners broke the course and the American records.

Dick's best selling book Staying the Course recounts the stunning race that made Dick Beardsley a celebrity and the difficult years that followed, including his recovery from a near-fatal farm accident, his subsequent addiction to painkillers, and a very public arrest for forging prescriptions. His story of overcoming extreme obstacles speaks to anyone who loves competition, who has survived catastrophe, or who has pursued a seemingly impossible goal.

Honest and engaging, Beardsley recalls his rise from Minnesota small-town kid and mediocre runner to celebrated athlete. He gives an exhilarating description of the Boston race and its unexpected obstacles: he was accosted by a fan, sideswiped by a bus, hobbled by a charley horse, and derailed by a motorcycle cop. He also writes with great candor of his retirement from marathoning to run a dairy farm, the accidents that followed, his addiction, the humiliation of his arrest, and his struggle to sobriety.

Never self-pitying, Staying the Course is inspirational, demonstrating just how much can be endured no matter how long and arduous the race - and the value of what is learned along the way.

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