Mark the Calendar: Running Legend Coming to Sayville in July

Attention all runners and running enthusiasts: there's a legend in the sport coming to Sayville next month.

Marathon runner Dick Beardsley will make a special appearance at the Sayville Running Company on July 9 at 7 p.m.

Beardsley is a best selling author and champion - in running and in life. Although his competitive running career as an elite athlete ended in 1988, Dick is still the third fastest American born runner in the marathon distance, running 2:08:53 in the 1982 Boston Marathon. Best known for his 1982 Boston Marathon "Duel in the Sun" with Alberto Salazar, Dick is also a two-time Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier. He is a two-time winner and course record holder of the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota (2:09:36 in 1981) and winner of the first London Marathon, (2:11:48 in 1981) and is the course record holder for the Napa Valley Marathon (2:16:20 in 1987). 

But Dick is more than a running champion. He is a fighter. After a series of near-fatal accidents and a journey of self-discovery, Dick has turned his life around. Today, Dick, with two knee replacements, he is enjoying his running more than ever and in addition to running, Dick has become an avid cyclist, and has added duathlons and triathlons to his lifestyle.