October 29, 2007

Cozad Hospital Foundation Fall Ball

This past weekend I was in Cozad, Nebraska as the keynote speaker for the Cozad Hospital Foundation Fall Ball.

My hosts for the weekend were Claude and Karen Berreckman. I flew from Austin to Denver to Omaha where Claude picked me up for the 200 mile drive west to Cozad. Friday night we had a great supper at Claude and Karen's house. Also joining us were Claude's parents, Claude Sr. and his mom Jane along with Lyle Davis (CEO of the hospital) and his wife. We had a wonderful time and very tasty food!

I was actually in Cozad to speak at a race there back in 1983. Claude Sr. pulled out a picture of me speaking at the race!

Saturday morning I went on a run with some of the local folks, then afterwards I spoke to the Cozad High School Cross Country team S. XC team along with some XC runners from the nearby town of Lexington.

Saturday night was the Ball and it was a grand event! Six people were inducted into the hospital Hall of Fame. I then gave a 45 minute talk and keyed in on areas of Loyalty, Dedication, and Commitment. It went very well and the folks at the Ball were a great group to speak to! I had a awesome time in Cozad, Nebraska!

Have a great day!

Dick

October 24, 2007

Team Spiridon - Austin

On Wednesday night I had a great time running, eating, and speaking with Team Spiridon!
We met at Little Mexico restaurant and went for a nice easy 2.5 mile run. I had the chance to run and chat with most everyone in the group.

We then sat down to a wonderful Mexican meal and then I spoke to the group. It was great fun as I told a little about how I got into running, one of the first marathons I ran (and did everything just about possible, wrong!) and how I looked for positive signs as I was getting ready to run my first Grandmas Marathon in Duluth Minnesota back in 1981.

Rob, the leader of Team Spiridon, was very gracious in letting me talk about the Dick Beardsley Foundation and what we are trying to accomplish with it. My soon to be wife Jill Gainer and foundation board member Stacey Conley (Conley Sports) were in attendance which was very nice!

We had just received our Dick Beardsley Foundation wrist bands and the Team Spiridon folks were the first to have a chance to purchase one and help the foundation.

I thank all of them for their generous donations!

It was a great night with a awesome group of people!

Thanks for having me Team Spiridon!

Dick

October 22, 2007

Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon

I had a wonderful weekend in Detroit, Michigan at the 2007 Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon.

I was there on behalf of New Balance as they are one of the sponsors. The expo opened Friday afternoon and I spent my time at the New Balance booth (my friend, Curt Munson, who owns Playmakers running store in Lansing and has two New Balance stores in the Detroit area) was my host.

Friday and Saturday, I also spent some time at the Marathon and Beyond magazine booth. It’s so enjoyable to meet so many different folks all after the same goal of finishing their marathon. I was in the Marathon and Beyond booth with my good friend Coach GP. He has a new edition of his book Run Tall, Run Easy. You can order it by going to Coach GP's website. I highly recommend his book.

Early Saturday morning I got up and got in my last long run before the Bass Pro Shop Marathon in Springfield, Missouri that I will be running on November 4. I did a 17 miler and felt pretty good on a very windy morning!

I had the chance to meet a person at the expo Saturday afternoon who is battling an addiction to narcotic pain medication. Hopefully I was able to give her hope to keep going and not give up the battle! Her husband and children were there with her and showed great support towards her.

Race day was sunny and windy. I helped with announcing until my voice gave out!

2:15 won the men’s division and 2:34 was the women’s winner. The 16,000+ runners in the marathon, half, and 5K all seemed to have enjoyed the day!

Off to Cozad, Nebraska this week to be the Keynote speaker at the Cozad Health Care Fall Ball.

Have a great day!

Dick

October 17, 2007

Resource Training & Solutions Center

On October 15 I had spoke at the Resource Training & Solutions Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

They were having their annual awards banquet and I was the keynote speaker.

The Resource Training center covers a nine county area in east-central Minnesota and provides programs to schools and family's in that area. Dr. Robert Cavanna has been the director there for 23 years and I can see why they are so good at what they do! Dr. Cavanna is a very positive person!

They do wonderful things for a lot of folks! My talk went very well and seemed to be enjoyed by those attending. I spoke for about 45 minutes and then we had a little get together afterwards, even saw some old friends from Minnesota I had not seen in years!

All in all it was a wonderful time!

Dick

October 15, 2007

Toronto Marathon

I was at the Toronto Marathon this weekend as a speaker and to run in the half marathon What a wonderful event!

The expo was on Friday and Saturday and I spent most of my time at a booth talking to folks, signing New Balance cards, and taking pictures. Friday and Saturday myself, along with Katherine Switzer, Roger Robinson, and Bart Yasso from Runners World did a seminar for the runners.

Saturday night we all spoke at the pasta dinner in front of about 500 runners, it was lots of fun!

Sunday was the marathon and half marathon, it was perfect running weather...cool, cloudy, and not much wind. I was fortunate to win the Grand Masters title (age 50 and above) with a time of 1:20:30. Very pleased especially coming off a hard training week as I'm getting ready for a marathon in 3 weeks.

After my run, I helped with the awards ceremony. If you are looking for a well organized race in a beautiful city, Toronto is the place to go!

I'm now heading to St. Cloud , MN for a corporate talk on Monday evening, then home on Tuesday for a few days!

Dick