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Rick Hoyt, beloved Boston Marathon icon, dies at 61
Hoyt, who had cerebral palsy, competed in countless road races over the years — often with his father, Dick, pushing his wheelchair.
More on Rick Hoyt:
Rick Hoyt, a Boston Marathon icon who cruised across countless finish lines alongside his father, Dick, has died at the age of 61, his family announced Monday.
Hoyt, a quadriplegic who had cerebral palsy, died due to complications with his respiratory system, his family said.
For decades, Rick and Dick Hoyt — who died in 2021 at the age of 80 — were familiar sights on the Boston Marathon course, with Dick pushing Rick in his wheelchair all the way from Hopkinton to Back Bay. In all, they completed 32 Boston Marathons together.
“When my dad and I are out there on a run, a special bond forms between us,” Rick Hoyt told The New York Times in 2009 with the help of a computer voice program. “And it feels like there is nothing dad and I cannot do.”
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The Hoyts finished their last Boston Marathon together in 2014. Rick Hoyt announced his retirement from the world-famous course in 2021, citing health issues.
“As so many knew, Rick along with our father, Dick, were icons in the road race and triathlon worlds for over 40 years and inspired millions of people with disabilities to believe in themselves, set goals and accomplish extraordinary things,” the Hoyt family said in a statement released through their organization, the Hoyt Foundation.
“His family is heartbroken and requests time to grieve and will share details as they become available,” the statement continued.
A ‘Yes You Can’ mentality
The father-son duo began racing together in 1977. According to the Hoyt Foundation, Dick pushed Rick in his wheelchair for a 5-mile benefit race, ending up close to the back of the pack.
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Reflecting on that first run, Rick told WBZ in 2021: “After the race, I could not wait to get to my computer to tell my father how I felt. I wrote, ‘Dad, when we are running, my disability seems to disappear.’”
The pair would go on to complete more than one thousand races, even biking and running across the United States in 1992, according to the Hoyt Foundation.
But the Boston Marathon remained Rick’s favorite, and the love flowed both ways.
“Rick Hoyt will always be remembered as a Boston Marathon icon and for personifying the ‘Yes You Can’ mentality that defined Team Hoyt,” the Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the marathon, said in a statement. “We are fortunate to have been able to call Rick a friend, mentor, pioneer, and Boston Marathon finisher.”
Hoyt’s legacy will live on through the Dick & Rick Hoyt Award, presented annually to someone who embodies the spirit of Team Hoyt through advocacy and inclusion, the B.A.A. said.
The Hoyt Foundation had previously planned a 5-mile Dick Hoyt Memorial “Yes You Can” Road Race for this coming Saturday, and the Hoyt family said they will make a decision about whether to move forward as planned or postpone the race.
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Longtime Boston Marathon race director Dave McGillivray also released a statement via email on Rick Hoyt’s passing. Read the full statement below:
Earlier this morning, we all lost one of the most inspirational heroes this world has ever known. Sadly, Rick Hoyt passed away peacefully today and is now back with his father, Dick. It’s hard to believe they both have now passed on but their legacy will never die. Dick and Rick Hoyt have inspired millions around the world. I was so fortunate to have known them and to have been a friend of theirs for over 40 years and even to have been their manager at times. One of the greatest athletic thrills I ever experienced was pushing Rick in the Finish at the Fifty 10K race at Gillette Stadium. We had so much fun together reminiscing about the past, about doing the Bay State Triathlon, the Ironman Triathlon World Championship, the Falmouth Road Race and so many other races. It was so inspiring, too, working with Rick and his brother Russ on the Dick Hoyt Memorial “Yes You Can” Road Race scheduled for this coming Saturday in Hopkinton. I told Rick I would only be involved if HE was the Race Director, not me. He gladly accepted that role and he was doing an amazing job at it, too. We all will truly miss Rick as we have missed his father but we will never, ever forget the gift they both left all of us — that we all can overcome obstacles and we can accomplish special things in our lives that have positive impacts on other peoples lives, too. As their famous motto stated, “YES YOU CAN.” We will always be grateful, Rick, for your courage, determination, tenacity and willingness to give of yourself so that others, too, could believe in themselves, set goals and make a difference in this world as you have.
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