and Rick Hoyt...Father and Son

[Sonia_TX]

I just heard about this on the radio and it was touching...

and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon — that daunting, almost superhuman, combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America.

It’s a remarkable record of exertion — all the more so when you consider that Rick can't walk or talk.

For the past twenty five years or more , who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that is pushing. When cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by .

At Rick’s birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain. and his wife, Judy, were told that there would be no hope for their child’s development.

"It’s been a story of exclusion ever since he was born," told me. "When he was eight months old the doctors told us we should just put him away — he’d be a vegetable all his life, that sort of thing. Well those doctors are not alive any more, but I would like them to be able to see Rick now."

The rest of the story is here: http://www.teamhoyt.com/history.shtml

Also, you can watch videos that were made for them..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryCTIigaloQ (I'm SUCH A crybaby!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D52rJd9GX10

[FromWayDowntown]

I saw a story about them on HBO's Real Sports. It's really, really touching.

[Sonia_TX]

I didn't know they did a story on them. I always miss the good stuff.

I just looked it up and it was shown in December.