yes, you can.

[bikerchick68]

for anyone who says they "can't". Yes, you can. This made me teary... be sure to watch the video too. Man, talk about inspirational... EDITED TO ADD THE FATHER'S NAME IS D I C K AS IN RICHARD.

(courtesy of Sports Illustrated)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjPrL3n63yg

Strongest Dad in the World

[From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly]

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

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.

****'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.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs. ``He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' **** says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an institution.''

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' **** says he was told. ``There's nothing going on in his brain.''

"Tell him a joke,'' **** countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain.

Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate
was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want to do that.''

Yeah, right. How was ****, a self-described "porker'' who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped,'' **** says. ``I was sore for two weeks.''

That day changed Rick's life. "Dad,'' he typed, "when we were
running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''

And that sentence changed ****'s life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

"No way,'' **** was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years **** and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then
they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, "Hey, ****, why not a triathlon?''

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, **** tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think?

Hey, ****, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way,'' he says. **** does it purely for "the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, **** and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their besttime? 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 **** 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, **** and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and ****, 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 would sit in the chair and I would push him once.''

[mimitabby]

boy that censorer is working overtime, isn't it? Lots of people are named D I C K!

[Bikingmomof3]

Thank you for sharing the beautiful, inspirational story.

[Running Mommy]

You know as many times as I have heard the Hoyt's story, I never get tired of it. Seeing "ricks dad" (to avoid the censor) pulling him in the boat at Kona always gets to me.
thanks again, I needed that pick me up.

[Lise]

I love the Hoyts' story, and I learned some new details today. Thanks so much for posting it. When I get discouraged with my own meager limitations, I'll remember Rick and his dad, and over come that which I think holds me back! Very inspiring.

[DDH]

OMG, how wonderful is that!!! Thanks for the story. Good thing I didn't have make up or anything on and nobody is around.

[Trekhawk]

Beautiful.

[light_sabe_r]

That was a great story!! Good on ya Rick's dad!

[chickwhorips]

wow. thanks for sharing that story.

[massbikebabe]

I have had the pleasure of meeting the Hoyts on more than one occasion, and I have to tell you it is a very humbling experience. Mr. Hoyt just shrugs his shoulders and smiles when you compliment him on all of his accomplishments, Rick on the other hand will get out his keypad and tell you many stories about each and every event they have ever done. These days when I fall coming down the stairs, or in the yard, or on my bike I always think of the Hoyts and I stop feeling sorry for myself and my shell of a body. If Mr. Hoyt can do it so can I!!!!!!!!!!



karen

[latelatebloomer]

Great story, I'm thinking of sharing it with the disabled guys I work with - will sleep on it, as I don't want to underscore the lack of dad-ness they have in their own lives.

The censor is funny - i pm'd mimitabby and referred to the
English author Charles ****ens.

D I C K E N S!! fer crying out loud!!

[SadieKate]

I've seen coverage of those two for the Hawaii Ironman. Just incredible.

[iFKA]

I couldn't stop my tears... It's nice to hear such a beautiful and inspiring story in this cruel world.

[CycleChic06]

I watched in person these two cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon this past year. It was really quite amazing. The crowd was just wild!

[dingster1]

Wow!! Inspiring