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.

[1] In 1981 he and Norwegian Inge Simonsen intentionally crossed the finish line together holding hands in a time of 2:11:48.

His memoir, Staying the Course: A Runner's Toughest Race, was co-authored by Maureen Anderson and published in 2002 by the University of Minnesota Press.

Between July 1992 and February 1993, he was involved in three serious automobile accidents, each requiring hospitalization for back and neck injuries.

He was arrested September 30, 1996, for forging prescriptions[12] and sentenced to five years' probation and 460 hours of community service.

[19] In another tragic turn, in October 2015 Dick lost his beloved 31-year-old son Andrew, a veteran of the war in Iraq, to suicide.

In 2023 Dick started a podcast with long-time friend and fellow marathon runner Mike Dunlap called On The Run With Beards And Dun.