Dick Beardsley Marathon Running Camp
Coach Joe Henderson said of Dick’s camp, “We come as strangers, and we leave as family.”
Pat Loebach, a friend of mine whom I met at the inaugural camp in 2003, said, “I came to came to be a better runner; I left a better person.”
This is what Dick’s camp is about. It is a running camp, but it’s not just about running. Sure, we practiced strides, ran hills, learned about lactate thresholds, and some even set PRs in Dick’s 1/2 marathon on Saturday. But we also made new friends and invited them to stay at our homes to run races in our cities. And, unlike offers that people often make when they say, “You’re welcome to come stay at my house,” we actually take each other up on their offers to visit.
It’s always good to go home after being gone for a week, but it’s also hard to leave camp. What makes it easier is that I know I will be talking to my new friends through email, phone calls, and meeting up with them again at races all over the world.
At camp this year, I gave a talk on “Running & Friendship,” and I enumerated the dozens of friends that I have made just through connections at Dick’s camp. I met Jan Seeley - without whom there would not be a Dick Beardsley Marathon Camp - at the Napa Valley Marathon expo in 1998.
So, to Jan, I say “Thank You” for making all these friendships happen. And now that we have completed yet another camp, I am so fortunate to add many new friends to my “list” of running friends.