About 50 runners braved the cold weather on Monday and showed up for the Dick Beardsley Fun Run at Universal Sole, 3254 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago.

Beardsley, one of this country's greatest marathon runners, was in Chicago to speak about his famous "Duel in the Sun" against fellow American Alberto Salazar at the 1982 Boston Marathon and to promote and sign copies of his book, "Staying the Course: A Runner's Toughest Race." By the way. Salazar won that epic1982 race in 2:08:52 to Beardsley's 2:08:54.

The evening was sponsored by Chicago Athlete Magazine, Marathon & Beyond Magazine, Running Network and Universal Sole.

Beardsley, who grew up and still lives in Minnesota, told the runners how he got involved in the sport and he told the story about the famous duel with Salazar, imparting nuggets of training advice for runners of all speeds as he spoke.

"The last five miles, I told myself, 'Run like there's one more mile - that's all you need to do is one more mile,' " Beardsley recalled from the 1982 Boston race. "The mile came up and then I told myself the same thing again.

Beardsley said that toward the end, he could have given up, but told himself, "If you give up now, you'll regret it for the rest of your life." He said he feels absolutely fine with his time and knows he gave 100 percent.

"The mistake I made was I didn't know where the finish line was," he said. "I should have known this!"

The Q&A session afterward included the following:

Q: How important is hill training?
Dick's answer: "I would recommend working hard on the downhill. Get your legs used to that pounding."

Q: What do you think of high-mileage training?
Dick's answer: "Extra miles are important, they gave me a mental edge."

Today, Dick's training logs don't show mileage, but rather, he runs by time. He's estimates he's putting in 60-65 miles week. However, he'll probably cut back next week. He's running the Napa Valley Marathon next weekend. He'll be at Boston, too, on April 17.

Beardsley will host the first Dick Beardsley Marathon Training Camp, June 8-13 at the Rainbow Resort in northwest Minnesota. It will be directed by Jan Seeley, publisher of Marathon & Beyond. There is a limit of 50 participants in the camp. For more information, click here.