Sermon Tone Analysis

WWJD

Father & Son Hoyt running team - son is handicapped

Mephiboshet - Carried to the table

Redemption & Salvation

vocation

Dick Hoyt, Boston Marathon legend who teamed with son, dead at 80

Kim Ring

Telegram & Gazette Staff

March 17, 2021

Dick Hoyt, the longtime Holland resident who gained worldwide notoriety for pushing his son's wheelchair in more than two dozen Boston Marathons and triathlons, died Wednesday morning at his home.

He was 80.

For many the mere mention of the Boston Marathon conjures an image of Dick and Rick Hoyt, running the course and crossing the finish line, Rick’s arms out and a huge smile on his face.

That iconic image was immortalized in a bronze statue placed at the starting line in Hopkinton in 2013, the same year the father-son duo were honored with a Jimmy V. Perseverance Award at the ESPYs.

While the Hoyts inspired handicapped athletes across the world, Dick was, at his core, a small-town father simply caring for his son, a quadriplegic with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair, fellow marathoner Doug Hansen said from his home in California on Wednesday.

Hansen, an athlete himself, remembered seeing Dick and Rick at the Boston Marathon long before his own daughter, Angel, was born with handicaps that would keep her from progressing much further than a 1-year-old.

She is 19 now and has joined her father in many races and marathons.

Hansen said he remembered asking Angel’s doctor if it would be OK for her to join him on his runs; if he could take the jogging stroller and let her experience the peace he felt when he ran.

The doctor asked him why he’d want to do such a thing but agreed it’d be fine.

Hansen said he eventually met up with Dick and Rick in California and they were all set to run a race with a little friendly competition set up, until Dick’s knee started acting up.

They hung out and at first, Dick was stoic while Rick flirted with the ladies and requested a beer, as he is known to do.

By their third day together, Dick was giving Hansen advice on how to get race organizers to be more amenable to including teams of racers in their fields.

“His advice to me was ‘Pave your own way,’ ” Hansen said, through tears.

“This feels like losing a parent to me.’”

The Hoyts began running when Rick was 15.

He’d asked his dad if they could take part in a 5-mile road race to raise money for a lacrosse player.

The player had suffered an accident that left him paralyzed.

Dick agreed and pushed the all-metal wheelchair to the finish line.

After the race, Rick told his father he felt as though he had no handicaps when they ran together.

Inspired by that, Dick’s life became an odyssey of road races, iron man triathlons and marathons all shared with his son, who finished just a few feet ahead of him in every competition.

Better wheelchairs, designed for competitors and their partners to be more comfortable and efficient, came as a result of Team Hoyt’s work.

More and more runner/wheelchair teams were welcomed at races and marathons and volunteer runners, through the Hoyts' organization, began pushing the wheelchairs of those who wanted to take part in a marathon.

In Holland, a town of less than 3,000 even when folks occupy their summer cottages on the lake, the Hoyts are probably the most famous folks in town.

Though Rick moved to his own place years ago, Dick stayed and while he’d retired from running, he still enjoyed a walk to the local market for coffee and a conversation.

Dick had planned to retire from running after the 2013 Boston Marathon but never finished the race after a bombing at the finish line killed three people and left dozens injured.

The team came back and ran their final marathon together in 2014.

In 2015, Dick served as the Boston Marathon’s grand marshal.

Rick continued racing with a new partner, Bryan Lyons, a dentist, who took over as Rick’s teammate in 2015 until his unexpected death last June at 50.

While they gained notoriety at big marathons, Dick also competed in smaller races with his son.

They competed in the Canal Diggers 5K in Worcester a few times and in their tiny hometown Team Hoyt helped organize fundraising road races, Police Chief Brian Haughey said.

📷

“He was an icon,” Haughey said of Dick Hoyt.

“When I was growing up in Framingham, school was always out on marathon day and we’d have to go to the marathon.

My mother would always tell us to watch for the guy pushing his son in a wheelchair and she would tell us the story of Dick Hoyt.”

Years later, when he became Holland’s police chief and met Hoyt, he remembered his mother’s words and said Dick was “a good guy” whom he was honored to know.

News of Hoyt’s death brought words of sympathy from many, including the Boston Athletic Association which wrote "The BAA is tremendously saddened to learn of the passing of Boston Marathon icon Dick Hoyt.

Dick personified what it meant to a be a Boston Marathoner, showing determination, passion, and love every Patriots Day for more than three decades.

He was not only a fan favorite who inspired thousands, but also a loyal friend and father who took pride in spending quality time with his son Rick while running from Hopkinton to Boston."

📷

Ironman Triathlon wrote on social media, “While our hearts are broken for this loss, his accomplishments alongside Rick are ones that will remain at the core of IRONMAN.

We share our deepest sympathies with the Hoyt family, their friends, and all others who are impacted by this great loss.

We will miss you, Dick.”

And the Boston Bruins weighed in with a post that read, “For decades, Team Hoyt has been a shining example of determination and spirit, inspiring all of us every April at the Boston Marathon.

Today, the Bruins mourn the passing of Dick Hoyt and send our thoughts and best wishes to the Hoyt family.”

📷

Dick died quietly in his sleep at his Holland home Wednesday morning, Russ Hoyt, another of his sons, told The Associated Press.

"He had an ongoing heart condition that he had been struggling with for years and it just got the better of him," Russ Hoyt said.

Russ and his other brother, Rob, broke the news to Rick.

"He's sad, as we all are, but he's OK," Russ said.

"You could see it in him, it was like someone hit him."

Hansen said he’s hopeful that others will carry on the work started by Dick Hoyt.

He said on the rare days when he felt overwhelmed, Hoyt was someone who motivated him, not as a runner, but as the dad of a special, inspirational child.

Hoyt’s son seemed to echo those words when he spoke of his father Wednesday.

"I know it's a cliché, but I want people to know that I thought my father was a hero, not just because he pushed Rick in the marathon, but because he was a great father to all of us you could talk to about anything," he said.

"He inspired people to look at all their children as equals no matter their disability."

Funeral arrangements for Hoyt were incomplete on Wednesday.

Material from The Associated Press were used in this story.