Dick Beardsley

Dick Beardsley, American runner

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Born: March 21, 1956
Age in 2026: 70
Zodiac sign: Aries
Birth year: 1956

About Dick Beardsley

Dick Beardsley is an American long-distance runner. He tied for first place with Inge Simonsen in the inaugural 1981 London Marathon and finished second to Alberto Salazar by one second in the 1982 Boston Marathon. Beardsley ran his first marathon in 2:47:14 at the 1977 Paavo Nurmi Marathon in Hurley, Wisconsin. Beardsley placed second (2:08:53) on the heels of Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon, breaking the Boston Marathon course record and the American record. Beardsley is the only man to have ever run 13 consecutive personal bests in the marathon, and is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the feat.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Dick Beardsley timeline

1977Beardsley ran his first marathon in 2:47:14 at the 1977 Paavo Nurmi Marathon in Hurley, Wisconsin.
1982Beardsley placed second (2:08:53) on the heels of Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon, breaking the Boston Marathon course record and the American record.

The world when Dick Beardsley was born

Dick Beardsley was born in 1956. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1956

#1 song"Heartbreak Hotel" – Elvis Presley
Top movieAround the World in 80 Days
Top TV showI Love Lucy
Best-selling bookPeyton Place – Grace Metalious

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentDon Larsen pitches a perfect game in the World Series
Top headlineElvis Presley takes America by storm
Technology milestoneFirst transatlantic telephone cable (TAT-1)
Defining fadElvis Presley mania
Notable inventionHard disk drive (IBM)
World population2.82 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
Also wonPhiladelphia Warriors (NBA)
U.S. population168.1M

1956 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Dick Beardsley's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1956	2026
Gas	$0.30	$3.45/gal
Average home	$11,700	$435,000
Average income	$6,500	$67,500
Minimum wage	$1.00	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.50	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	168.1M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, World Athletics, Yale LUX. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.