A List 3/31/03 FAMED MARATHON RUNNER DICK BEARDSLEY TO APPEAR AT SLU CANTON - Record-holding marathon runner Dick Beardsley, who is also a professional speaker, fishing guide and radio announcer, will be at St. Lawrence University for several public appearances on Sunday, April 13, and Monday, April 14. Area runners are invited to a group run and talk by Beardsley on April 13, with the St. Lawrence University Marathon Training Group. The run begins at 8:30 a.m. with a meeting in the lobby of the E.J. Noble University Center; the talk begins at noon, in the Formal Lounge of the E.J. Noble University Center. Also on April 13, Beardsley will hold a book-signing, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Brewer Bookstore. On April 14, Beardsley and Dan Davis will make a joint presentation, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the conference room of Eben Holden Hall. Beardsley and Davis, a local resident and St. Lawrence graduate student, will share their personal stories of overcoming adversity, with a special focus on their struggles with substance abuse. For a brief moment in the early '80s, Beardsley became the most famous runner in the world, by losing a race. In the 1982 Boston Marathon, foiled by a motorcycle that cut him off near the end, he finished two seconds behind Alberto Salazar in a contest often called one of the most memorable in marathon history. It was the closest finish ever at the world's premier marathon, and both runners broke the course and the American records. In the difficult years that followed, Beardsley withstood a number of trials, including his recovery from a near-fatal farm accident, his subsequent addiction to painkillers and a very public arrest for forging prescriptions. He detailed how he triumphed over those challenges in his 2002 autobiography Staying The Course, written with Maureen Anderson. For more information about the events at St. Lawrence, contact Director of Counseling Services William B. Burns at 315-229-5391.-30- Back To News Releases Back to St. Lawrence Homepage