Book : Duel In The Sun

by John Brant

This book is about the famous battle between Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley in the 1982 Boston Marathon. Not only does it describe every detail of the race but it also provides a comprehensive background of Salazar and Beardsley and talks about how this race ended up having a major impact on both of their futures.

The chapters are not in sequence which takes a little getting used to. For instance, one chapter will describe a part of the race then the next chapter might be about Dick Beardsley’s childhood. Some stories leave you hanging for several chapters before coming back to finish them.

This was an amazing race but hearing about what was going through each runner’s mind before and during the race makes it that much more insane (and I really do mean insane). This was an especially great book for me to read just before I run Grandma’s Marathon where Dick Beardsley still holds the course record.