Dick Beardsley Recap, Thanks, and Thoughts

Thanks, everyone, for coming out last night to meet and hear Dick Beardsley. It was a great night for me, to be able to meet and talk to such an amazing guy - amazing not only because of his accomplishments and personal triumphs, but because of his persistent and obvious genuineness and care he shows for others.

I was also really proud for him to see and meet the folks I get to run with - thanks. He gave us a really nice shout-out on his blog.

I also have to give much love to Stacey and John at Conley Sports. These guys put on such a great marathon - I'm still very much a new runner, but I've hit a number of events, and studied others, and we're really lucky to have the Conleys and Christina Conklin in charge. They all care a lot about what the runners' experience, and it shows. Speaking is something he's clearly passionate about, but it's Dick's business, too. He wanted to do something for us at low cost, and Stacey and John stepped in and picked it up for us. In return, I hope we can roust some of you volunteers for the marathon - it's a great experience, and really rewarding to be on that side of the event.

For those of you that weren't able to make it - we missed ya, and you really missed some great stories and insights. We'll fill you in on what we can, and hopefully, you'll have a chance to meet him down the line.

I will say that I was struck (as I tried to say in my horrid and rambling introduction) by how unpretentious he was. I got the sense from his stories that he approaches running in the same way. He was clearly serious and competitive, but it sounds like he didn't overcomplicate things, and he had fun with it. I can get a bit over-serious about What It All Means. Dick was a good reminder to all of us to just frikkin' run, and the meanings will make themselves evident.

So, it's also interesting how Dick's experiences caused him to refocus his energies into helping others, whether it's runners, or people who find themselves in the cycle of addiction that he was in. I knew about his foundation before, but I don't think I had a very good sense of it until I heard him talk about his own experience with chemical dependency. Jim and I are now sporting Beardsley Foundation wristbands, and if anyone else is interested, let me know, or hit the Foundation website. At some point, we'll be making a contribution to the foundation, and perhaps we can help find volunteers to staff their waterstop at the marathon, as part of the 26 Miles for 26 Charities program (.pdf link).

This is also a good time to finally talk about adding another dimension to the pursuit of your running goal, and finding ways to have it benefit the community. One good way coming up is the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure. If you haven't done this race before, you should. For one thing, the course is fast. Far more importantly, it's an experience - everywhere, there's evidence of the impact of breast cancer, from survivors running the race, to people running in memory of people who have died. Thanks to Michele Streetman, we have the opportunity to run with the Freescale team for half price - $18, I think. There's just really not a reason not to run it. Email me if you're interested, and I'll get you the discount code and instructions.

The half marathon and marathon are also excellent opportunities for fundraising. A couple of years ago, we were able to raise over a thousand dollars in just five days for the daughter of a friend of mine who had died of a brain aneurysm a few weeks earlier. In that case, a bank account had been set up, and people just made their contributions directly to it. Some charities probably offer the infrastructure to take pledged donations. I urge you to seek out the causes that resonate with you, and start figuring out how you can make your run work for them. Share that with us on the Run, Drink, Repeat blog, and maybe you'll encourage some others to join you, just as Christina has already done...

As the training goes on, we'll try to give you more concrete ways to go about this sort of thing. Start thinking about it, and let's do what we can to make a difference. When you hit that wall in the marathon, or the point in the half where you want to slow down or stop, having that extra reason to go on might mean a lot. Because there might not be a kid to run over to make you feel better...