Distance runner, trainer to speak at pre-race talk show – KBJR 6

DULUTH, MN — A pre-race talk show hosted by Olympian Carrie Tollefson and Grandma’s Marathon winner Dick Beardsley will take place Friday at the DECC.

Tollefson and Beardsley will host the Pre-Race Talk Show at Edmund Fitzgerald Hall, and will conduct guest interviews, prize giveaways, and a dedicated Q&A session.

Their guests include Jordan Hasay and Jeff Galloway. Hasay is one of the top distance runners among U.S. women, and finished third at the Boston Marathon in 2017. That year, she beat the record for fastest marathon debut by an American woman, which was previously held by Duluth native Kara Goucher. Hasay will be running in this year’s half marathon.

Galloway focuses on training plans for distance runners, and aims to help reduce running injuries. He also designed the Run-Walk-Run method to help beginners start running, which helps control fatigue and eliminates significant running injuries.

The show, which is free and open to the public, begins at 4 p.m.

Tollefson grew up in Dawson, Minnesota, and won 13 state high school championships, and won five NCAA championships at Villanova University before joining Team USA Minnesota in 2001.

Since then, she represented the United States in the Olympic Games after winning the 1500 meters at the trials in 2004.

Beardsley won Grandma’s Marathon in 1981 and 1982, and held the course record for 33 years.

He also placed second at the 1982 Boston Marathon, where he was two seconds behind the winner.