Competing isn't all about sports; it's about life

Having been an avid runner and athlete for as long as I can remember, I have met some the greatest people -- and some of the most loathsome people -- through sports and athletics.

Coaches were my surrogate fathers throughout high school and college.

Among this collection of human beings who had major influences on my life, I fondly remember as many good ones as I do bad ones.

For example, my high school football coach, Jim Fox at Davenport Central, was a guy who could look into your heart and help you decide on your own if you really could give the team what he expected. He became an Iowa High School Hall of Fame coach and had several NFL greats, such as Roger Craig, mature through his programs.

My high school track coach, Ira Dunsworth, was another coach whose mold was broken after he was born. I count my blessings I was nurtured, prodded and exposed to a man of his caliber.

Then there were the Mike Ditkas, the Bart Starrs, the Haven Moseses, the Lynn Dickeys and Duane Thomases.

Many of my influences were from football, but the ones who really got me thinking were the distance runners in track. Their world wasn't "three yards and a cloud of dust." Their world was minutes and hours of prolonged, non-stop motion.

One in particular who epitomizes the triumph of the spirit is a man who competed in probably the most famous Boston Marathon of all time: the 1982 "Duel in the Sun."

Dick Beardsley was a farm kid from Minnesota who wasn't much in high school and competed some in college. But he pursued his passion of running and became a world class long-distance runner. Although he finished second in the '82 Boston Marathon, his neck-and-neck race against Alberto Salazar is a classic on all counts.

Dick is one of those American success stories that includes a lot more than track records. His winning time in Duluth's Grandma's Marathon still stands as a record after 25 years at 2:09.37, and he set a Guinness world record by running in 13 consecutive marathons in which he set personal bests.

After having sustained Achilles tendon problems in the late 1980s and undergoing multiple surgeries, he retired from competitive running and returned to his family dairy farm in Minnesota. That's when things became really dicey.

First, it was a farm accident in which he was badly mauled by an auger implement. Then it was a traffic accident in which he was blindsided by another vehicle. Then he was struck while running in Fargo, N.D. Then he rolled his Bronco on snowy roads after that.

He's had more surgeries than you and I could fathom, has had plates and pins surgically imbedded and removed, and he became addicted to pain medication. His father died in the midst of it all, and while Dick was addicted to narcotics, he was arrested for writing up phony prescriptions to feed his out-of-control drug habit. He was nailed after buying 240 pills in one day.

Since 1997, Dick has been clean and has gotten out on the road again and logged an admirable 2:43.58 in the Napa Marathon in 2004. When most others would have succumbed to their defeats and quit, Dick has continued to compete.

If you have a moment, visit his Web site at www.dickbeardsley.com. The story of who he is and what he does will be a source of inspiration on many fronts. Not only has he been the best in his field on an international level, he has taken the hard knocks of life and emerged as a true champion.

Jim Jensen came to Colorado in 1977 as a member of the Denver Broncos' first Super Bowl team. He lives in Windsor. Contact him at JJensenColorado@aol.com.