Team Hoyt

Dick Hoyt
Born Richard Eugene Hoyt
(1940-06-01) June 1, 1940
Occupation Lieutenant Colonel
Spouse(s) Judy Hoyt
Rick Hoyt
Born Richard Eugene Hoyt Jr.[1]
(1962-01-10) January 10, 1962
Holland, Massachusetts[1]

Team Hoyt is father and son Richard Eugene "Dick" Hoyt (born June 1, 1940[2]) and Richard Eugene "Rick" Hoyt Jr. (born January 10, 1962), from Holland, Massachusetts, who have competed together in various athletic endeavors, including marathons and Ironman Triathlons. Rick has cerebral palsy and during competition Dick pulls Rick in a special boat as they swim, carries him in a special seat in the front of a bicycle, and pushes him in a special wheelchair as they run. Team Hoyt was inducted to the Ironman Hall of Fame in 2008.[3]

Rick Hoyt's birth and early life

Team Hoyt in the 2008 Boston Marathon, near the halfway point in Wellesley

Rick Hoyt was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth after his umbilical cord became twisted around his neck, which caused the blockage of oxygen flow.[4] As a result, his brain cannot send the correct messages to his muscles.[5] Many doctors encouraged the Hoyts to institutionalize Rick, informing them that he would be nothing more than a "vegetable."[5] His parents held on to the fact that Rick’s eyes would follow them around the room, giving them hope that he would somehow be able to communicate someday.[5] The Hoyts took Rick every week to Children’s Hospital in Boston, where they met a doctor who encouraged the Hoyts to treat Rick like any other child. Rick's mother Judy spent hours each day teaching Rick the alphabet with sandpaper letters and posting signs on every object in the house. In a short amount of time, Rick learned the alphabet.[4]

At the age of 11, after some persistence from his parents, Rick was fitted with a computer that enabled him to communicate and it became clear that Rick was intelligent.[6] With this communication device, Rick was also able to attend public schools for the first time.[7]

Rick went on to graduate from Boston University in 1993 with a degree in special education and later worked at Boston College in a computer lab helping to develop systems to aid in communication and other tasks for people with disabilities.[8]

Team history

Team Hoyt began in 1977 when Rick asked his father if they could run in a race together to benefit a lacrosse player at his school who had become paralyzed. He wanted to prove that life went on no matter your disability.[9] Dick Hoyt was not a runner and was 36 years old. After their first race Rick said, "Dad, when I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped." After their initial five mile run, Dick began running every day with a bag of cement in the wheelchair because Rick was at school and studying, unable to train with him.[4] Dick was able to improve his fitness so much that even with pushing his son, he was able to obtain a personal record of a 5 km run in 17 minutes.[10]

Team Hoyt in Wellesley at ~12.8 miles on April 16, 2012

As of March 2016, the Hoyts had competed in 1,130 endurance events, including 72 marathons and seven Ironman triathlons.[11] They had run the Boston Marathon 32 times. Also adding to their list of achievements, Dick and Rick biked and ran across the U.S. in 1992, completing a full 3,735 miles in 45 days.[11][12]

They also compete in triathlons. For the swim portion of the triathlon, Dick uses a rope attached to his body to pull Rick sitting in a boat. For the cycle portion, Rick rides on the front of a specially designed tandem bike.[5][13] For the run portion, Dick pushes Rick in his wheelchair.[7]

A bronze statue in honor of the Hoyts was dedicated on April 8, 2013, near the start of the Boston Marathon in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.[14]

The Hoyts did not finish the 2013 Boston Marathon. They had about a mile to go when two bombs exploded near the finish line, and were stopped by officials along with thousands of other runners still running the race. They were not injured. A bystander with an SUV gave them a ride to the Sheraton hotel but they were temporarily separated from Rick's wheelchair.[15]

ESPN honored Team Hoyt with the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the ESPYS on July 17, 2013.[16]

On April 21, 2014, Team Hoyt completed the 2014 Boston Marathon, having previously announced that it would be their last.[17]

Dick is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Air National Guard.

Racing history

Distance Quantity
Triathlons 257
Ironman distances 6 (included in triathlons)
Half Ironman 7 (included in triathlons)
Duathlons 22
Marathons (Boston Marathons) 72 (32)
20 miles 8
18.6 miles 8
Half Marathons 97
20 km 1
10 miles 37
15 km 8
Falmouth 7 miles 37
11 km 2
10 km 219
5 miles 162
8 km 4
7.1 km 1
4 miles 18
5 km 176

Total events (as of March 22, 2016): 1,130[11]

References

  1. 1 2 "Dick Hoyt, Race by Race, A Father Lifts His Son" cerebralpalsy.org
  2. ↑ "Team Hoyt Dusts Off An Old Friend As They Prepare For Boston". Sports Then and Now. 2010-04-03. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  3. ↑ Breitrose, Charlie (17 July 2010). "Triathlon duo visits Camp Arrowhead in Natick". The MetroWest Daily News. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 Nall, Sam (January 2002). It's Only a Mountain: Dick and Rick Hoyt, Men of Iron. Southern Heritage Press. ISBN 0-941072-51-7.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Hayes, Liz (2007-05-27). "Team Hoyt". Sixty Minutes Australia. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  6. ↑ Reilly, Rick (2005-06-20). "Strongest Dad in the World". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2011-08-23. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  7. 1 2 Henderson, Joe (2008-02-10). "Odds Overcome". Tampa Tribune. Archived from the original on 2010-11-23. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  8. ↑ "The Power of a Father's Unconditional Love: Rick and Dick Hoyt". Self Improvement Association. 2009-11-08. Archived from the original on 2010-03-23. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  9. ↑ Brant, John (2007-04-09). "Team Hoyt Starts Again". Runner’s World. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
  10. ↑ Lodge, Denise (25 January 2012). "Dick and Rick Hoyt: Still Running Together". Impowerage Magazine. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 "Racing History". TeamHoyt.com. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  12. ↑ "Hoyts Forced to Miss Marathon". Boston Globe. 2007-03-29. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  13. ↑ Smith, Gary, "The Wheels of Life", Sports Illustrated, 18 April 2011, pp. 56-68.
  14. ↑ "Dad, son honored with statue at Marathon start". Boston Herald (Associated Press). April 9, 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  15. ↑ "Team Hoyt – Rick and Dick Hoyt – stopped 1 mile short of Boston Marathon finish line; inundated with support from public". Mass Live. April 9, 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  16. ↑ "ESPYS to honor Dick and Rick Hoyt with Jimmy V award". Espn.go.com. 2013-06-06. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  17. ↑ "Team Hoyt -- father and son Dick and Rick Hoyt -- finish final Boston Marathon". MassLive.com (Associated Press). April 21, 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
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