Dick Beardsley Half-Marathon Celebrating 25 Years

DETROIT LAKES (KDLM) – The Dick Beardsley Half-Marathon is celebrating 25 years this weekend.

This year’s races scheduled to be run in Detroit Lakes on Saturday include a youth run, 5k, half marathon and new this year, a 25k to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the event. “Time goes by quick…to celebrate the anniversary we’ll have a 25k race and I might just run it myself,” said Beardsley.

The half marathon and 25K racers will depart from Kent Freeman Arena at 7:30 a.m., the 5K participants at 8 a.m, while the 10K run starts at 8:30 a.m., and the youth run at 11 a.m.

The Dick Beardsley Half Marathon was developed to honor former Detroit Lakes resident and marathon legend, Dick Beardsley, and as a tune-up for the Twin Cities Marathon.

Beardsley is most well-known for his race in the 1982 Boston Marathon dubbed the “Duel in the Sun” as he battled world recorder holder Alberto Salazar down to the finish line. Both broke the American record: Salazar won a record time of 2:08:51; Beardsley’s time was 2:08:53, finishing 1.6 seconds later, placing second.