The Father Who Never Stopped — Team Hoyt and 1,100 Races

Holland, Massachusetts. 1977. Fifteen-year-old Rick Hoyt typed one letter at a time, using the faintest movement of his head to control the computer.

"Dad, when I'm running, it feels like I'm not handicapped."

That single sentence changed Dick Hoyt's next forty years.

The Doctors Were Wrong

Rick was born on January 10, 1962. His umbilical cord wrapped around his neck at birth, cutting off oxygen to his brain. The doctors delivered their verdict:

"The child will be a vegetable. You should institutionalize him."

Dick and his wife Judy refused. They brought Rick home. They talked to him, read to him, enrolled him in school. Rick couldn't walk or speak — but he thought, he felt, he laughed.

Engineers at Tufts University built Rick a special computer. Using tiny head movements, he could type. The first sentence he ever typed was:

"Go Bruins."

The First Race

In 1977, Rick asked his father to run a charity road race for a paralyzed lacrosse player. Dick was not an athlete. He was an ordinary middle-aged man with a spare tire. But he couldn't say no.

Five miles. Dick pushed Rick's wheelchair the entire way. They finished second to last.

After the race, Rick typed:

"Dad, when I'm running, it feels like I'm not handicapped."

Dick didn't sleep that night.

Team Hoyt

Over the next forty years, Dick competed in over 1,100 races — with Rick.

Team Hoyt at the 2005 Boston Marathon

In the swim, Dick towed Rick in a specially built boat attached to a rope around his waist. On the bike, Rick sat in a custom seat mounted on the front of Dick's bicycle. In the run, Dick pushed Rick's racing wheelchair.

Team Hoyt's Record

Category	Achievement
Total races completed	1,100+
Boston Marathons	32 (1980–2014)
Iron Man Triathlons	6
Cross-country (1992)	45 days, bike + run, L.A. → Boston

The Iron Man

The Iron Man Triathlon is one of the most brutal endurance races on earth:

2.4-mile swim
112-mile bike
26.2-mile run (full marathon)

Most trained athletes push the edge of human endurance just to finish. Dick Hoyt completed it six times — towing, carrying, and pushing his son the entire way.

"I Don't Run for Rick"

People constantly asked Dick: "How do you do it all for your son?"

His answer never changed.

"I'm not doing it for Rick. Rick is doing it for me. I would never have been a runner without him."

The Statue

In 2013, a bronze statue was unveiled near the start of the Boston Marathon. A father, pushing his son's wheelchair, mid-stride. The inscription on the base reads:

"Yes You Can"

The End

On March 17, 2021, Dick Hoyt passed away peacefully in his sleep. He was 80.

On May 22, 2023, Rick Hoyt passed away. He was 61.

Together, they proved that the word "impossible" belongs only to those who haven't tried yet.

Remember Rick's very first sentence on that computer.