Father-son dynamic duo

Page: 2 3 4 5 (of 5)	Previous | Next

bigger, better, faster

In 1981, the pair decided they wanted to enter the granddaddy of all races, the Boston Marathon. “Nobody wanted us in the race,” Dick says. “At that time, there was no category for racers like us.”

Undaunted, they ran the race as pirates—unofficially, not registered, and with no number and no official finishing time. Yet they finished the race in three hours and 18 minutes. Boston Marathon organizers then said they’d allow them to enter future races—–if they could finish a qualifying race in a time of less than 2 hours and 50 minutes, which was based on Rick’s age at the time, not Dick’s.

What did they do? They became official qualifiers when they earned a 2:45:23 in the 1983 Marine Marathon in Washington, D.C. And that was no small feat. Think of it this way: The duo has finished faster than Lance Armstrong in the 2006 New York City Marathon. And most hardcore runners train for years and merely aspire to such a sub-3-hour time.

“We have come a long way and broken down a lot of barriers along the way,” Dick says. In 1996, the Hoyts were recognized as Centennial Heroes in the Boston Marathon. “Rick motivates and inspires me because he’s a fighter and doesn’t let his disabilities get in the way of what he wants to accomplish,” Dick says. “Our motto is ‘Yes You Can.’ There’s no such word as ‘can’t’ in the Hoyt vocabulary.”

“To me, Rick is just as much of an athlete as I am," Dick says. "I’m just loaning him my arms and legs so we can compete.”

For more information on Team Hoyt, visit www.teamhoyt.com.