Zilker Relays - Austin, Texas

Jill and Dick!

The Dick Beardsley Foundation had a waterstop at the Zilker Relays in Austin, Texas. What a great way to kick off Labor Day weekend and the fall racing season.

The way I started the weekend was working the waterstop in a bikini, surrounding by women in hula skirts. :-)

The Zilker Relays will be making a donation to the foundation for our volunteer efforts, so I found myself dressed like that....all for the foundation!

Thank you Laura, Jennifer, Jack, Ginny, Jennifer, Mark and Nathan (the little boy who came to watch his father). Most importantly, thanks to my beautiful wife, Jill, for putting this waterstop altogether! It was so much fun and I can't wait until next year!

More fun waterstop pictures!

Thanks to Raul and RunFAR for a great event!

Marathon Training Teleseminar

Last night I had the opportunity to have a teleseminar with Steve Mackel.

We talked about the Olympics, marathon training, my goals as a runner and for the Dick Beardsley Foundation.

You can listen to the teleseminar here.

Thanks Steve, I really appreciate the opportunity to be on your show, keep up the great work!

Dick

Round Rock Express - Conley Sports / DBF Fundraiser

Stacey Conley

David Grice

What a wonderful time we had at the Round Rock Express baseball game this past Sunday evening!

My good friends John and Stacey Conley of Conley Sports were the host for this wonderful event. It was the kickoff for the Austin Marathon that coming up in February and also a fundraiser for the Dick Beardsley Foundation.

We had a beautiful banquet room with lots of good things to eat, the banquet room went right out along the right field base line so we had a great view to watch the ball game!

Myself, along with David Grice, of RaceWorks Incorporated, got to throw out the first pitch! Let me tell you, that pitching mound is like being up on a mountain! I had a good windup and though my pitch was a little wide of the plate, it made it there without bouncing in the dirt or going over the catchers head!

Dick's First Pitch

Afterward we all got to keep the ball we threw out! I spent most of the evening in and out of the banquet room, either watching the game or talking to folks. About half way through the evening, John got up and said a few words, then he asked me to say a few words about the Dick Beardsley Foundation, John then encourage donations and the foundation received over $500.00 in donations! Thank you!!!

A HUGE thank you to John and Stacey for hosting this fine event and for letting the Dick Beardsley Foundation be the beneficiary, Jill and I can't thank you and all the folks that came enough for your time and effort!

Gut Check 212 Bike Race

Darn street lights

280 miles down - 134 to go!

All finished!

He did it!!! My best friend Mike Dunlap not only finished his bike race across South Dakota, but won the race outright and set a new course record!!! Drum roll please....Mike Dunlap, age 51: 22:45

I visited with Mike's son, Ben, on Friday evening and Mike was about 5.5 hours into the race. Ben and his friend Josh were crewing for Mike the first half of the race and said Mike was looking real good. At that point, Mike was in the lead for the solo racers, but there was a relay team in front of him.

When Mike rolled into Gettysburg, South Dakota about 4am on Saturday morning, Ben and Josh hit the hotel and now it was Mike's wife, Karen's turn to crew onto the finish. At this point Mike was the overall leader!

I was able to talk with Karen and was lucky to have a quick chat with Mike as he was taking a quick bathroom break at a gas station. Mike still had 140 miles to go, but he really sounded up beat and was ready for the challenge!

Last year Mike did the two person relay and he rode the second half into a stiff headwind and rain, the weather this year was much better.

The fact that Mike finished first over everyone at the age of 51 is incredible!! Mike averaged over 19 mph for the 400+ mile race!

I can't tell you how proud I am of Mike!! It just goes to show you, that if you really want something bad enough, and are willing to work hard for it, anything and everything is possible!

Way to go "Dun" you rock!!!

beards :-)

5-Star Cross-Country Camp , (Iriquois Springs)

I woke up at 3:15 am and got a nice 8 mile run in and then it was back on the plane for my flight to Newark, NJ. I arrived in Newark about 11:45am, picked up my rental car and started heading for Rock Hill, NY for the 5-Star Cross-Country Camp. Thank goodness for my Garmin! I punched in the address and "she" got me through that tangled mess of highways in the NYC area! I didn't have to drive too far out of the big city and I was out into the beautiful NY countryside! I arrive at Iriquois Springs Camp where 5-Star is held and it's beautiful! I arrived around 3pm and was met by 5-Star camp director Steve Lurie.

Steve has been putting the 5-Star XC camp for 27 years, this was my 6th straight year to have been invited back to speak and run with the kids, I so look forward to it every year!

At about 4pm we all went for a 7 mile run, about a mile into the run it started pouring cats and dogs, what a ball we all had!

Every year there are about 150 kids that come to camp, and it is really well run!

Thursday night I gave my first of two talks, the kids were absolutely awesome!!!

Friday morning I was up early for a nice 12 mile run up and down the roads of the beautiful Catskill Mountains. The weather was cool which was sure a nice break from the heat and humidity of Austin!

After a nice breakfast with the kids, I sat in on a panel with some of the other coaches and we answered questions from the kids. Then took a short nap, had lunch, then signed my book "Staying the Course" for the kids.

After the book signing, it was off for a easy 5 mile run, and I watched the kids do their workout. They were doing quarter mile repeats on the grass and were having a ball! It had rained quite a bit before they ran, and the course turned quite muddy, that didn't bother them, the muddier the better!

I gave my last talk after the run and we all had a wonderful time, my second talk was on the "lighter" side and I even sang a few songs that I wrote along with playing the guitar, my talk and the songs went very well!

The last night of camp, each cabin puts on a skit, they are hilarious and some even did a skit that mimicked how I act and talk, I was cracking up!

Saturday morning I was up early for a easy 6 miler then back to the airport for my flight home.

Thanks Steve for once again inviting me to speak at your camp, as always I had a wonderful time and hope to be back again next year!

A big thanks to all the coaches, counselors, and the kids for making my visit such a wonderful one!

Dick

Growmark Conference

Early Tuesday morning I flew from Austin-Detroit-Bloomington, Illinois. I was one of the speakers for Growmark, the agricultural giant with headquarters in Bloomington. The conference was being held at a beautiful resort in Pana, IL, which is about 90 miles southwest of Bloomington. I picked up my rental car and off I went to Pana.

After a nice supper, I headed for the sack as I was super tired!

I got up early Wednesday morning and did a nice track workout and then went into town for a little breakfast. I stopped at a gas station and ran in to get a bottle of water, I left the rental car running, when I came back out to get in, the doors were locked and the car was running! I didn't think that could happen! The local police no longer opens up locked cars, but I was able to find a local guy that had the tools, it cost me $30 bucks, but at least he was able to unlock it!

I was the last speaker for the conference, it was made up of mostly guys and gals that were managers of different Growmark plants around Illinois. My talk went very well. I got done, threw on my running gear and did a beautiful 5 mile run around the grounds of the resort, and then it was back in the car for my ride back to Bloomington.

A big thank you to Dave Anderson from Growmark for inviting me to speak at their conference, I had a great time!

Dick

Bike race across South Dakota

No, it’s not me that is racing across the state of South Dakota this weekend on a bike, but my best friend Mike Dunlap is! Mike and I have been best friends for 30 years. We first met right about now 30 years ago, I was a new member of the South Dakota State University Cross-Country Team. I had never met any of my team mates before but I knew this guy name Mike Dunlap only from the newsletters our coach, Scott Underwood, would send out every week. It included how much mileage each of us ran each week. Mike and I were always within a few miles of each other every week. I liked to run a lot and so did Mike. When Mike and I first met, there was almost this instant bonding and we have been best friends ever since.

Mike was a heck of a runner! He was a South Dakota high school state champion in cross-country and track and his best marathon came at the 1983 Boston Marathon where Mike ran 2:18!

Unfortunately or fortunately, however you want to look at it, Mike had to have some knee surgeries over the following years and left the world of running for the world of biking, talk about someone who fell in love with their new sport, it was Mike! "Dun" was a fanatic about running, and now he was able to turn it over to biking.

Over the years I've watched his dedication to his bike and his new love for this sport, he is amazing! At age 51, Mike can still hang with the young bucks, he loves to train, and when there is a race, he is up for the challenge!

This weekend Mike will be racing his multi-speed bike across the entire state of South Dakota! The race begins on the Wyoming-South Dakota border and will finish about 450 miles later on the South Dakota-Minnesota border.

His wife, Karen, and their son, Ben, will be Mike's "pit crew". If I was not in New York this weekend to speak at a high school XC running camp, I'd be out there cheering and helping Mike to the finish!

If you’re traveling across South Dakota this weekend on Hwy 212 and you see this skinny guy all by his lonesome on a bike, slow down and give him a shout of encouragement, please give him a shout from me!

Mike has been a great biker for many years, but more importantly, he has been a wonderful friend to me even longer. Go get ‘em Mikey! If I was a betting man, I'd put my money on Mike to be the first one across the finish line!

I'll be thinking about you my friend, be safe and God Bless!

Beards :-)

ZAP Fitness Mini Marathon Running Camp

Virginia Creeper Trail Long Run
Moses Cone Memorial Park
Traci and Gail
Jill, Zika, and Pete

I had never been to Blowing Rock, North Carolina in my life, now I have been there twice in the past two weeks! I can't thank Pete and Zika Rea enough for having me back to speak at their Marathon Prep Mini Camp at their ZAP Fitness Center in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, outside of Blowing Rock. My friend and former world record holder in the marathon, Steve Jones was suppose to be the guest speaker, but Jonesy was in Beijing with one of the athletes he coaches, so I was his sub, I had another wonderful time!

My wife Jill was able to come with me this time, she had never been to North Carolina before and was awestruck by the beauty!

We arrived into Charlotte on Thursday afternoon, picked up our rental car and were off to Blowing Rock. The drive is about two hours and the scenery is spectacular especially when you start to get into the mountains.

It was Jill's 45th birthday and we celebrated it with a wonderful meal at Crippens, a bed and breakfast that also serves incredible dinner meals!

After supper, we headed the few miles down the road to ZAP Fitness, got all checked in, and met about 25 of the campers that were there.

Friday morning it was up and a short drive to Moses H. Cone Memorial Park for a beautiful run on the roughly 30 miles of carriage trails. Moses Cone, was a well to do textile tycoon and owned 3600 acres in the mountains. He build a beautiful summer mansion and had the carriage trails made so he and his wife along with friends and family members could ride their horses. After he and his wife died, they were buried on the property and it was made into this beautiful park for all of us to share in its beauty!

We all ran various distances through the park. Afterwards, Jill and I spent most of the day in Blowing Rock checking out all the neat little stores they have, Blowing Rock today is definitely a tourist town!

After a great meal of pasta that Chef John put on at ZAP Fitness, I gave a talk to the group, it went very well and I had many nice comments.

Afterwards I got to mingle with the campers and get to know them better, it was then lights out as we were getting up early the next morning to go for a long run.

Saturday morning was gorgeous! Cool and beautiful blue sky was the entire day! We all car pooled and drove about 50 miles, out of North Carolina, through Tennessee to Virginia to run on the Virginia Creeper Trail. The Virginia Creeper Trail is an old abandoned railroad line that has been turned into almost 40 miles of groomed trail to run, bike, or horseback ride.

I have been very fortunate to have run in some beautiful places in my 35 years of running, I can honestly say, the Virginia Creeper Trail is one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful place I've ever run! The footing is excellent, the trail is completely tree covered with shade, the railroad bridges and rivers you cross are breathtaking!

I did a 15 mile run with some of the elite athletes from ZAP Fitness, we were doing a very nice up tempo run, they were very kind to me as they could have left me in the dust anytime they wanted to! What a thrill it was to run with them. My wife Jill also did a long run of about 90 minutes and felt great and also could not get over the beauty of it all!

After our run many of us went over to the river and soaked our legs in the nice cool water, boy did that feel good! Afterwards, Jill and I took off for a windy, mountainous road trip through the mountains and back to ZAP Fitness.

After another great meal on Saturday evening, we all went into Blowing Rock and a trip to the homemade ice cream parlor, not many runners that I know that don't like ice cream!

Sunday morning I was up very early for a nice run on the treadmill, then Jill and I packed our bags and said our goodbyes to all and headed back to Charlotte.

Again, thanks so much to Pete and Zika for having us as their guest and thank you to all the campers who helped make the trip Jill and I had such a memorable one!

Dick

P.S. Jill here...:-) Here are all of the pictures that I took this weekend. If you want one sent to you separately, just email me directly at jill@dickbeardsleyfoundation.org

Thanks to Pete, Zika and all of the campers for making my weekend very memorable and meaningful. I am inspired by your stories and your strength.

P.S.S. Here is the link that has 9 minutes of the finish of the 1982 Boston Marathon.

P.S.S.S. Here is the link for information on how to purchase one of Dick's books.

Great Race Running Clinic-Pittsburgh

My trip to Pittsburgh was super! Scott Green really does a great job as the New Balance rep for the area and Jamie Dix the tech rep for the area was also there and did a wonderful job! Saturday morning we spent about 5 hours at the Great Race Running Clinic. They had about 5 different stations set up for runners to go through and have a number of test done. The one that the runners really got the most out of was the shoe evaluation. Scott, Jamie, and Kevin Smith the owner of Elite Runners & Walkers did a outstanding job of taking the time to evaluate everyone and show them the types of shoes that would work best for them. I mainly chatted with folks as they came through, signed New Balance cards, took pictures with folks, things like that.

At noon I gave a hour long talk and it went very well. After we were all done there we went over to Kevin's store and I was there for about 3 hours signing books, New Balance cards, pictures, and answering lots of questions about training. After the store appearance, we headed over to a beautiful running trail and went for a nice 4 mile fun run.

Afterwards Kevin and his wife had pizza and drinks for everyone, New Balance shirts for all that came, it was a great time we all had!

I know Kevin really appreciated New Balance bringing me out, as he couldn't say enough nice things about New Balance, Scott, and Jamie!

You all know how to put a great team of sales and tech reps together! Every place I go, I've never heard a bad thing about the New Balance reps, always nothing but good! Thanks so much for letting me travel to events like that, I really enjoy doing it!

Keep up the GREAT work Dave and Dan!

Dick