Thursday, August 24, 2006

Team Hoyt

My daugher, The Princess, sent me an email Thursday. It was one she hadn't seen and wanted to share. And I thought it was worth sharing. It's about Team Hoyt:

Article: Strongest Dad in the World
[From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly]
"Dad," he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!"...

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I stink.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.


The email contained information about the issues Rick encountered since being injured at birth. It tells all about Rick's struggles and the family's efforts ... particularly his father's ... in overcoming the situation.

The email of the SI article covers much of the many events they entered. And it concludes with the idea that Dick's alive today because of it all.


This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters.

Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.

"No question about it," Rick types. "My dad is the Father of the Century."

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape," one doctor told him, "you probably would've died 15 years ago."

So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

"The thing I'd most like," Rick types, "is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once."


Here's the video...



Read more about Team Hoyt.

10 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you posted this! I have admired this man from the first time I saw him on tv. Didn't know their names, but I will try to commit it to memory! Thanks, Basil!

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  2. There is a website: www.teamhoyt.com

    Look under races--it's amazing! Even ironmans!

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  3. Okay, mr. basil, I sees what I missed! Please accept my humble apology....or, accept this baseball as hard as I can throw it! hahaha I'll try to retain what I read from now on!

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  4. Dunno if you've heard about the "CAN" music video which spread around the web like wildfire and then went missing on YouTube.

    I just got an email that it was found again (see my blog for the link) and there's also a good documentary on YouTube.

    Markus

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  5. Thanks. I'll remember this the next time I catch myself bemoaning having caught a red light.

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  6. [...] My father is not however the topic of this post. The topic of this post is Dick Hoyt. I have heard of, and seen, Dick Hoyt on TV several times. He is the father that pushes, pulls, and carries his son Rick through numerous sporting events (marathons, ironmans, hiking, etc). I did not know however that Rick, due to all the activity, saved his father Dick from having a deadly attack. Basil has the full story, which is very much worth a read, here. [...]

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  7. [...] Thanks to basil’s blog We now have the new video, I know a lot of us were disapointed when the other was taken off so watch this one and be inspired [...]

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  8. Saw Team Hoyt in KC live last year. Powerful testimony - bought their book and DVD which Ironman Hawaii produced. Great "music video" too. Good stuff. lgp

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