"Dad, When I'm Running, I Don't Feel Handicapped"

The Story of Team Hoyt — 1,130 Races of Unstoppable Love

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A Birth, A Verdict, and a Refusal to Accept It

On January 10, 1962, in Holland, Massachusetts, Dick and Judy Hoyt welcomed their first son, Rick. During delivery, the umbilical cord wrapped around Rick's neck, cutting off oxygen to his brain. The diagnosis came swiftly and brutally: spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Rick would never walk, never speak, never feed himself.

The doctors advised the young couple to institutionalize the boy. "He'll be a vegetable for the rest of his life," they said. But Dick and Judy noticed something the doctors had dismissed — Rick's eyes followed them around the room. He reacted to jokes with what seemed unmistakably like laughter. They refused to give up on their son.

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The First Words

For years, the Hoyts fought to get Rick into public school, arguing that his mind was sharp despite his body's limitations. They reached out to the engineering department at Tufts University, which in 1972 built a custom computer that allowed Rick to select letters using a head switch mounted beside his temple.

The first complete sentence Rick ever typed stunned everyone — not with profundity, but with the joyful normalcy of a boy being a boy:

"Go Bruins!"

He was a Boston Bruins hockey fan. More importantly, he had proven he was a thinking, feeling, aware human being. The door to public education finally opened, and Rick eventually graduated from Boston University with a degree in special education in 1993.

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A Son's Request That Changed Everything

In 1977, Rick told his father he wanted to participate in a five-mile charity run for a local lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick was no runner — he was a 40-year-old lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard with no athletic background to speak of. But he could not say no to his son.

Dick pushed Rick in his wheelchair through the entire five miles. They finished next to last. That night, Dick was exhausted, sore in muscles he didn't know he had. But when he checked Rick's computer, he found a message that would redirect the entire trajectory of their lives:

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

From that moment, Dick Hoyt made a vow: he would give his son that feeling of freedom as often as he possibly could.

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Team Hoyt Is Born

In 1981, Dick and Rick attempted the Boston Marathon for the first time. Race officials initially denied them an official entry — they didn't fit into any existing category. So they started at the back, unofficially. When they crossed the finish line, the crowd erupted. By the following year, they were official entrants.

Dick began training seriously. He ran every morning before work, often pushing an empty wheelchair loaded with cement bags to simulate Rick's weight. On weekends, father and son trained together.

Their ambitions grew beyond running:

• Triathlons: During the swim, Dick towed Rick in an inflatable boat. During the cycling leg, Rick rode in a seat mounted on the front of a custom tandem bicycle. During the run, Dick pushed the wheelchair as always.
• Ironman Triathlon (1999): A 2.4-mile ocean swim, 112-mile bike ride, and a full 26.2-mile marathon — all while pulling, carrying, and pushing his son. They finished in just under 17 hours.
• Cross-country journey (1992): Over 45 days, they biked and ran 3,735 miles across the entire United States.

Over the course of more than four decades, Team Hoyt completed over 1,130 endurance events, including 72 marathons and 32 consecutive Boston Marathons.

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What Kept Him Going

Journalists asked Dick the obvious question countless times: Why?

His answer never changed:

"I'm not a special person. I'm just a father. Any father would do the same thing for his son. When I'm out there running, I look down at Rick and see the biggest smile on his face. That smile is everything."

Rick, through his computer, offered his own perspective:

"Dad is my legs. I am his inspiration. We are each other's half."

In an interview, Rick also shared the dream that moved audiences to tears around the world:

"My favorite dream is one where I'm pushing my dad in the wheelchair."

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A Legacy Cast in Bronze

In April 2013, a life-sized bronze statue of Dick pushing Rick was unveiled near the start of the Boston Marathon in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. The inscription on the base reads the words that became Team Hoyt's official motto:

"Yes You Can."

The statue stands as a permanent tribute — not just to athletic endurance, but to a father's love that refused to accept limits.

Dick ran his final Boston Marathon in 2014 at the age of 74. His body could no longer sustain the grueling distance, but stepping away from the race was, by his own admission, the hardest thing he ever had to do.

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The Final Miles

On March 17, 2021, Rick Hoyt passed away at the age of 59. Tributes poured in from around the world. The Boston Athletic Association issued a statement calling him "an inspiration to the global running community."

Just two years later, on March 15, 2023, Dick Hoyt died at 82. Father and son, who had spent a lifetime in motion together, were reunited in stillness.

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The Ripple Effect

The Hoyt Foundation, established by the family, continues to support programs that integrate people with disabilities into athletic events. Across America, hundreds of "inspired by Team Hoyt" groups pair able-bodied runners with disabled athletes, creating a movement that has fundamentally changed how society views disability and sport.

Dick Hoyt once said something that cuts to the heart of what made their story resonate with millions:

"People look at Rick and see a wheelchair. I look at Rick and see my son — the most courageous person I've ever known."

Over 1,130 races. Forty-plus years. Millions of steps. Not a single one taken alone.

Their race is over. But their love is still running.

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"Yes You Can."