Duel in the Sun video clip 1982 Boston marathon : Beardsley v Salazar

malmo wrote:

Uncle Pervy wrote:

22.84 according to map quest.

If you drive 8 miles out of the way it is.

Worcester to Hopkinton is less than 14 miles, I'd guess. Why do you persist?

Because it's a slow day at the office

Did I hear the live cast correctly saying: "Salazar, Beardsley... it's Nike against New Balance..."

Was it usual to interpret races as shoe-brands competitions?

Wonder if any similiar comments would ever be said in a marathon commentary.

All I remember from the time watching on TV, was "i'm going to be there in September and I am going to run it someday..." Pretty magical stuff.

I remember a much bigger deal being mad of the motorcyle swerving too close to Beardsley on the corner..

Forget about the as-the-crow-flies distance- there's a better reason why Worcester is not a good indicator of the temperature at Hopkinton- the Worcester weather station is at 304 M elevation, while Hopkinton is only at 135. Much cooler up there. (Not sure why this is but the city of Worcester is notoriously situated in a bowl amongst the surrounding hills).

And not that it matters but the following wind is obviously the bigger factor as attested to by the actual participants such as Hodgie-san. Every time I have run in one I feel like I am suffocating. I would hate like hell to run in one on a warm, sunny day.

the point could be wrote:

Did I hear the live cast correctly saying: "Salazar, Beardsley... it's Nike against New Balance..."

Was it usual to interpret races as shoe-brands competitions?

Wonder if any similiar comments would ever be said in a marathon commentary.

All I remember from the time watching on TV, was "i'm going to be there in September and I am going to run it someday..." Pretty magical stuff.

I remember a much bigger deal being mad of the motorcyle swerving too close to Beardsley on the corner..

Well, the comment was made by Squires, kind of a loose cannon. How much do you think advertsising like that is worth? And they got it for free!

Could it be a case of a two-brand advertising first? When Squires says it, the outcome was open....By the way, I forgot to write "today" in my "Wonder if any similiar comments would ever be said in a marathon commentary TODAY"...By the way thanks to the original poster for posting. Brought some great memories back.

Ante up wrote:

[quote]the point could be wrote:

Did I hear the live cast correctly saying: "Salazar, Beardsley... it's Nike against New Balance..."

Was it usual to interpret races as shoe-brands competitions?

Wonder if any similiar comments would ever be said in a marathon commentary. [quote]

Well, the comment was made by Squires, kind of a loose cannon. How much do you think advertsising like that is worth? And they got it for free!

Uncle Pervy wrote:

I'm not bothered by the facts... I said all along in this thread I "believed" that it was at least 70 (which you've show it was) to 80.

We had a blizzard the week before so I'll certainly concede that 30 degree temp swing sure felt like 70-80 only if it was 60-70.

You are right... it was a legendary race, which is why I guess we both remember what we were wearing that day.

So... was missing this part of the reason you were toeing the line in NYC 6 months later?

I think that's probably the biggest thing there. Obviously not everyone who ran in that race was training in the Boston area, but I wouldn't be surprised a lot of them had been training in similarly cold conditions, and the sudden transition to 70 degrees made it feel a lot warmer, add in the fact that you're running a marathon and it's not surprising it felt so hot. Today it was around 40 degrees, after a few weeks in the teens, and it felt like a warm spring day. 70 a week after a blizzard must've felt like an oven running 26.2 miles.

I love it when Squires says: "[Beardsley] has to do it here, and drive as hard as he can, pull himself over that little viaduct that's next to Fenway Park, and then say a prayer the last mile."

Squires mentions several times that Alberto was obviously suffering from the very tough 10,000 he had run and lost a week earlier in Eugene to Henry Rono. From what I recall, Alberto was hoping to simulate the 10,000/marathon Olympic double. I think he expected to cruise and win Boston handily, but instead Beards shows up and runs the race of his life, requiring Alberto to do the Ali rope-a-dope until the very end. Screw the weather, it was simply a great race.

Another back story on this is that Beards had suffered from anemia for many months previous to Boston. A couple months or so before he finally got on some iron pills or whatever you take for that and got a helluva a bounce (pre-EPO, guys. Don't even start.). Seem to recall that in training through the anemia (however unintentionally) Beards felt that he got almost a blood-doping effect when he got the issue straightened out.

A great race, and a huge inspiration to this Minnesota kid who knew Dickie when he went to UofM-Waseca.

Beantown Strangler wrote:

Alberto was a ferocious competitor who worked as hard or harder than most athletes of any generation. That demeanor and ethic gave him great confidence. "Pompous and egotistical" are words usually used to describe people who don't live up to the standards they believe they have achieved. Also, Al could never be described as someone who had a "east coast-Boston area style edge" either. However, I can understand how he could be misunderstood. Most confident people are.

"Pompous and egotistical" are also words used to describe people who are pompous and egotistical. He wasn't "misunderstood" in the slightest. Great runner that he was, he was still pompous and egotistical. All the high standards and hard work in the world don't change that.

Squid wrote:

A great race, and a huge inspiration to this Minnesota kid who knew Dickie when he went to UofM-Waseca.

That's awesome. I just finished Beardsley's biography and I would love to meet the guy sometime. I read Duel.. first, so I knew most of the story, but it was neat to get it from Beardsley's perspective. Both of those guys just roared through their careers, at a time when people in the U.S. really appreciated what they were doing.

Two white guys fighting it out for the Boston Marathon title. Boy, that Steven Spielberg is something else.

"Pompous and egotistical" are also words used to describe people who are pompous and egotistical. He wasn't "misunderstood" in the slightest. Great runner that he was, he was still pompous and egotistical. All the high standards and hard work in the world don't change that.

It's always pleasing when great artists, great athletes, great musicians, are nice friendly people with no rough edges. We hope that Mommy and Daddy will be such people, too. But Mommy and Daddy are just people, and the sooner we realize that, and accept the rough edges, the sooner we'll enter adulthood.

I hear tell that Beethoven was pompous and egotistical, but so what? He was great.

So what if Salazar was a bit of a diva? He was a top-notch competitor; his performances--including this particular performance--continue to inspire. Cut him a break. Most of us have a few rough edges.

signed,

Your Daddy

Put me down on Alberto's side. He had an edge and probably would ask for a do-over on his media relations, but he always went out of his way to recognize and encourage me. I was a virtual nobody and he was a rock star at the time, but whenever I saw him a at a race he always come over to shake hands, would ask how I was doing, wish me luck. The one day that I beat him (he had a terribly off day in the 1984 World Cross Trials) he was the first to congratulate me on making the team, despite the fact that he'd finished knowing something was really seriously wrong.

Others have had different experiences, I know. The guy's not all bad though.

I've never thought that being fast is an excuse to be a dick

Of course being fast isn't an excuse for being a dick, but don't think that my post suggested that in any way. Where does it say "cut him slack because he was fast."

Was he a dick to you, I mean personally? Cause with me, he was just the opposite, always a decent guy. Maybe others have had different experiences, but in my dealings with Alberto, he was very different than the way he was portrayed in the press.

I ran the race and I remember it being so hot at the start the rubber outsoles of my shoes started to melt. As the temperatures climbed during the race my Bill Rogers tricot singlet started to smoke! You better believe it was hot!!

kudzurunner wrote:

So what if Salazar was a bit of a diva? He was a top-notch competitor; his performances--including this particular performance--continue to inspire. Cut him a break. Most of us have a few rough edges.

I am not speaking of "rough edges". I am speaking of a raging uncontrollable ego resulting in a person you simply detest being around.

Fortunately for Salazar, he does not need me to "cut him a break". Nobody is calling for jail time here. We are merely identifying him for the thorough jerk that he is. Take the good with the bad but the good doesn't mean you pretend the bad isn't there.

Turn it around. So what if Salazar was a great runner if he was such a jerk in real life? I don't know about you, but I am rarely "inspired" by jerks, no matter how fast they run.

Good points. I ran Chicago this year, and even though it was hotter there this year, at least we had the advantage of acclimating to the heat all summer long. If you through that temp out there in March or April, it would have been deadly.

Good points. I ran Chicago this year, and even though it was hotter there this year, at least we had the advantage of acclimating to the heat all summer long. If you through that temp out there in March or April, it would have been deadly.

Good thing you candy asses don't run in Arizona.