Dylan Beard Describes Juggling Walmart Deli Counter Gig, Life As Elite Track Runner

Track & Field's full of stars like Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin ... but there may be no better story than part-time Walmart employee and hurdler Dylan Beard, who's manning the meat slicer while chasing his dream!

TMZ Sports spoke to 26-year-old Beard just days before the Grand Slam Track event in Miami -- going down May 2-4 in South Florida -- and his story is awesome.

"I started working at Walmart in October 2023 just to get funds to be able to compete on a professional level in Track and Field. Funds for traveling, treatments, massages, and pretty much everything like that," Beard told us, explaining his motivation behind taking the gig.

Beard, who ran at Wagner, Hampton, and Howard as a student-athlete, continued to work and run ... and then he got a big opportunity earlier this month.

Dylan was invited to run in the 110-meter hurdles race at the Grand Slam Track meet in Kingston, Jamaica ... the new Track and Field org. launched by American Olympic great Michael Johnson.

Not content to simply show up, Beard shocked many people by winning his heat (13.29 time), securing the bag in the process, going home with a $50k check!

Beard, thanks to the great performance, was invited to run at the next GST event ... going down starting Friday in Miami (airs on CW, Peacock).

Despite the success, Beard is still working the deli counter at Walmart, and he says the company (which now also sponsors him) has been great.

"I'm still an associate with the store, still working a few hours here and there, but [Walmart's] very lenient with me. You know, last year I was doing probably five days a week, about 30 hours, 25 to 30 hours. Now it's a lot more relaxed, one or two days during the week."

As much as he likes and appreciates the job, Beard's hopeful that with more wins on the track, he can run full time ... where he's gunning to be one of the fastest men in the world.