Junior Olympics Qualifying Cross Country Ski Races

From January 11-13, I had the pleasure of being at Rainbow Resort north of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota for the U.S. Junior Olympic Qualifying West Itasca Opener event on the diverse and challenging cross-country ski trails at Rainbow Resort.

It's a rare occurrence that the Junior Olympic Qualifier is held in Minnesota, with only the Duluth area hosting an event before and this year's races being the first to be held in Northwest Minnesota. The Junior Olympic Qualifier is for 10-19 year old skiers, both male and female.

Amy Xu along with her husband Mike and Doug and Linda Shumann own Rainbow Resort and it’s one beautiful place! I've been there many times over the years and that is where we have one of our Dick Beardsley Marathon Running Camps each fall You could not find better hosts for all they do!

Over 150 skiers from Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois were competing. You could not have asked for nicer weather for skiing! Light snow fell all three days and the temps were in the high teens above zero and very little if any wind.

I shared announcing duties along with World Class XC skier Chad Geise from Mora, Minnesota. What a talented athlete and nice young man Chad is! One of the biggest XC ski races in the country "The Vassaloppet" is held in Mora every February, Chad is going for his 7th consecutive victory there this year in the 58K freestyle race!

On Saturday the races were 1.5 kilometer sprint races. They had qualifying heats and you moved on based on your time against everyone else. To get to the final you would have had to ski in four races!

The races on Saturday were the classic division then on Sunday the events were either 5K or 10K freestyle or skating as many people call it. Those kids were hauling! The top boys were skiing 10K in under 25 minutes!

The race successfully finished up around 2:30 Sunday afternoon with the awards ceremony. Some of my best friends in the world, Mike and Karen Dunlap, from Sioux Falls were also there to help out with the event and we all had a wonderful time in the snow covered forests of Northern Minnesota!

Dick

Fort Bend Fit - Sugar Land, Texas

What a wonderful time I had at the Fort Bend Fit Pasta Dinner in Sugar Land, Texas! Fort Bend Fit is part of USA FIT and they have chapters all over the country.

I was the keynote speaker at their Pasta Dinner in preparation for the Houston Marathon pasta dinner.

What a beautiful drive it is from the Austin area over to Sugar Land. Sugar Land is near Houston area, which is about a three hour drive! Lots of trees, along with rolling hills and farmland, I just loved it! Like they say "you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy". I passed through Brenham, Texas, which is the home of Blue Bell Creameries!

My host for the event was team leader, Terrie Gorney, she along with her many volunteers, really had the ballroom at the Sweetwater Country Club decorated nicely, almost like a Hollywood Academy Award presentation! The theme for the night “Running with the Stars”...a takeoff of "Dancing with the Stars". Most of the gals wore long dresses and many of the men were wearing tuxes along with running shorts and running shoes, it was quite the sight to see!

The event kicked off at 6:30 and I arrived early and sold and autographed my book "Staying the Course" and John Brant's book "Duel in the Sun". We then had an awesome buffet type dinner of many different pastas, salads, breads, and desserts.

My talk started after dinner and what a ball I had! There were over 300 runners and I really got into my talk and they got into listening and when that happens, it’s like magic for me! I spoke for about 50 minutes. After my talk they gave out some special awards and then I stayed after and signed more books and had a great time chatting to lots of folks.

Thanks to Terrie and the whole gang with Fort Bend Fit, I had a wonderful time!
Dick

Happy New Year!!

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2008!

As we look back on 2007, we can reflect on all the wonderful things in our lives and cherish those memories forever!

Many good things have happened to all of us, but also, we all have had some days where it seems like nothing went right and we feel we would be better off if we could just make those days disappear from our minds.

But remember, when we deal with those bad things in our lives in a positive way, it makes the good things seem that much better!

I try and tell myself this every day, when things in your life are going very well, try not to get over excited, but more importantly, when things in your life aren't going so well try not to get too down on yourself or others!

If you stay focused, have a positive attitude, and keep a smile on your face, I promise you that things will get better!

Take care my friends and have a wonderful 2008!

God Bless you all,
Dick

Jingle Bell 5k

What a wonderful event the Jingle Bell 5k was! It was held this past weekend in Austin, Texas and the proceeds from the race goes to MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving)

I got up early and did a 17 mile long run from our home to downtown Austin. It was a clear cold morning but that did not deter the 2000+ runners they had!

After the race lots of folks stopped by the Dick Beardsley Foundation booth and asked lots of questions, picked up flyers, took lots of pictures, and learned more about our foundation.

I met a few folks that have dealt with chemical dependencies over the years and they are all doing well now! It was very encouraging getting their support for what we are trying to do!

It is a huge mountain to climb to get a foundation up and running, but it brings me great joy to know that with the help of generous donations and public awareness, we will make it happen "One day at a time"!

Thanks to all those who stopped by our booth and a big big thanks to my family for making it all happen!

Have a great day! Dick

Dallas White Rock Marathon

What a wonderful couple of days I had in Dallas this past weekend! My wife, Jill, was able to join me on this trip which was really nice!

Friday morning I had the opportunity to visit the kids at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas...talk about inspiring!

The rest of the day I spent at the Dallas White Rock Marathon Expo. I was at the Marathon & Beyond booth and the New Balance booth selling books, signing race numbers and just talking to folks.

Saturday morning I went for a nice 10 mile run with my good friend Mark Bravo from Oklahoma City. Mark had a total hip replacement done not all that long ago but you could never tell as we ran 10 miles together and he did not show one sign of compensation from it....amazing!

Saturday I spent the afternoon back at the expo and for awhile spent time in the New Balance booth with my good friend Bill Rodgers. Bill and I have know each other for 25+ years now and we still both really enjoy the sport of running!

Saturday night was the pasta dinner. The head table was a who's who of legendary runners from the past. It was a honor to be seated at the same table with Autoro Barrios, Bill Rodgers, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Frank Shorter.

Race day morning Sunday, brought cold, windy, rainy conditions! Myself, Bill and Joanie all ran in the half marathon while Frank helped with the TV coverage.

It was a awesome fun weekend and a big thanks goes out to Marcus Grunewald, the race director, for inviting me to this years Dallas White Rock Marathon!

Have a great day! Dick

Mid-West Dairy Expo - St. Cloud, Minnesota

I was the invited keynote speaker for the Midwest Dairy Expo held in St. Cloud, Minnesota. I flew into Minneapolis on Monday evening and spent the night at my sister's house. I had a great visit with all of the family!

The next morning I drove to St. Cloud in a good ole fashioned Minnesota snowstorm!

Tuesday evening I was the featured speaker at their banquet. Being a former Minnesota dairy farmer, I really enjoyed being with some of the nicest, hardest working folks you will ever meet!

Wednesday morning I gave the keynote address at the breakfast in front of a few hundred folks, it went real well and I could tell from the comments afterwards, they really appreciated my talk!

I was very honored to have been introduced by a old friend of mine, Jeff Renault. Jeff is with the University of Minnesota-Extension and works with dairy farmers, in fact he came to my farm in the mid 80's and helped me become a better milk producer.

Jeff was also a accomplished runner back in the 60's and competed in the first U. S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 1968.

His son, Mike, is a very elite runner now and just competed in the recent Olympic Trials Marathon in New York City.

Thank you to the Minnesota Milk Producers for making my trip possible!

Dick

California International Marathon

This past weekend I was the guest of the California International Marathon and Fleet Feet Sports in Sacramento, what a wonderful time I had!

I arrived on Friday morning and after checking into my hotel I went for a beautiful run along the American River. Sacramento has miles and miles of great running and bike trails.

I spent Friday afternoon at the expo in the Fleet Feet booth, right across the way from my good friends at the Grandma's Marathon booth. I spoke with lots of folks and signed lots of New Balance cards.

Saturday went for a nice 10 mile run along the river. At noon I spoke to a large audience at the expo. My talk went very well, afterwards I spent the afternoon at the Fleet Feet Sports booth and sold a signed a whole box of books!I saw some old friends that have attended some of my Marathon Running Camps! It was great to see them!

Sunday morning I did a nice 14 miler along the river and then helped with the TV coverage of the race at the finish line.

What a wonderful weekend I had and also received some generous donations for our foundation!

A big thanks to New Balance for making my trip possible!

Have a great day!
Dick