Book Review: John Brant’s “Duel in the sun : Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America's greatest marathon” (Emmaus, PA : Rodale c2006)

I admit I’m a bit puzzled by this book. Nominally, it is about the 1982 Boston Marathon, when Salazar and Beardsley dueled from start to finish to finish 1-2. There is also some discussion about their upbringing, training, and personal philosophies. All well and good. Interspersed throughout the book are fast-forwards to times post-race that chronicle Beardsley’s addiction and recovery from opiate drugs and Salazar’s mystery ailment and partial comeback, along with his born-again Christianity after a trip to Medjugorje, Yugoslavia. Huh?

It’s a really well-written book, which makes those fast-forwards all the more disjointed. Not sure what the point of each was. For Beardsley: That his fame as an athlete bent the judicial system in his favor? For Salazar: ?

The author’s blurb gives a possible clue. The book is based on a Runner’s World essay included in Best American Sports Writing 2005. This book is an expanded version of that essay. I couldn’t find the essay online and haven’t gotten the book from the library yet, but I’m guessing that a lot of the extraneous stuff in Brant’s book was added to the article to make it book-length (sort of like some SNL skits that became feature-length movies, but probably shouldn’t have).

If you can overlook the added fluff, this is a well-written piece on 2 runners who captured the imagination of many during running’s initial heyday here in the United States.