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

Portland, Oregon

This past Sunday, after my duties with the Seattle Marathon, Bill Kaemmer along with his friend Tony picked me up at the Westin Hotel and we headed for the 3 and a half hour drive down to Portland. I actually was in the suburb of Hillsboro, Oregon.

Sunday night I spent about a hour with kids and parents from Bills XC team. I told how I got started running and about the Boston Marathon I ran in 1982. I signed some books and New Balance cards and had a great time!

Monday morning I went for a run with a group of runners from Portland, we ran along the beautiful Willematte River.

I then spent some time at Bills office and talked with some Portland St. University runners and some National Guardsoldiers. Bill is a Chaplin in the Guard and runs the GOLD program there.

Monday afternoon I spent a couple of hours at the Portland Running Co. store and had a great time chatting with folks.

Late Monday afternoon I ran with the XC kids from Hillsboro High School in the pouring rain, we had a blast, GREAT kids!

Monday night I gave a talk to the public at Hillsboro High School. I really enjoyed myself! I gave a motivational talkabout the ups and downs we all face in life and also talked about my drug addiction and our new Foundation.

Tuesday started early with a 10 mile run and then off to Salem, Oregon with Bill to the Oregon National GuardHeadquarters. We attended a prayer breakfast where I spoke about my addiction and my faith.

Bill also received a promotion and it was awarded to him by the Major General of the Oregon National Guard, it was quite a honor for me and a honor for me to meet the Major General!

After that it was off to meet and greet at the Portland Running Co., in Beaverton, Oregon. Owners Dave and Paul were there along with their staff. If your ever out in that area and need some advise or need some running gear, that's the place to go.

After that, back home to Austin! It was a very busy few days, but I had a ball!

Have a great day! Dick

Seattle Marathon

Hi everyone! I had a great time out in Seattle this past weekend!

I was the guest speaker at the Seattle Marathon and what a beautiful city it is!

I spent Friday afternoon at the expo signing books, New Balance cards, taking pictures with runners, and just chatting with lots of folks.

Friday night I was the invited guest of race director Louise Long to the Sponsor dinner, had some great food and conversation!

Saturday morning I did a 10 mile run along the bay in Seattle, it was beautiful.

I then went and talked and ran with the kids in their 1.2 mile run. They had over 3000 kids! It was absolutely amazing seeing that many kids running with their moms and dads and all having huge smiles on their faces!

I spent the rest of the day at the expo then delivered the keynote address at the pasta dinner.

Sunday morning I ran but did not race the half marathon, what a beautiful course with a couple of big hills thrown in.

The weather was perfect and it was a great race weekend!

Have a great day!

Dick

Drake Counseling Services

Last week I spoke at Drake Counseling Services in Fargo, North Dakota Drake is an addiction treatment center and it is where I went to treatment in 1996.

It's a wonderful place and the staff there is absolutely the best!When I got into treatment in October of 1996, I was taken to a large room with about 50 other addicts and sat in the back and listened to someone tell their story.

Thursday night I was in the same room as in 1996 except instead of listening, I was telling my story!

It is always very emotional for me when I speak at Drake, knowing what I do now about addictions, and seeing these folks that are here, many for the first time. As I was telling my story, I kept thinking of when I was in treatment and especially early on how I wasn't sure if I ever would or could ever get better and get my life back.

Sometimes you lose hope and when that happens it's much easier to give up and go back to your own ways again.

My main message is one of hope and not to give up and that no matter what it takes you need to put every ounce of energy into your recovery and that YES, you can get your life back and life can be better then ever before!

I get emails and letters from people saying thank you so much for sharing your story, and that you have given mehope.

As much as I appreciate their thank you's, I also want to thank them for letting me share my story!

As much as I hope it helps them with getting their sobriety back, it helps me just as much in maintaining mine, and for that I will be forever grateful!

As I tell them and myself, "You can live 40 days without food, 7 days without water, a few minutes without air, but you can't live one minute without hope"

Last Thursday, I gave myself more hope and I pray that's what they left with also!

Take care and God Bless, Dick