Today is the 113th running of the Boston Marathon. It's a cool day for spectators but a great day for runners. The start time has changed somewhat. When we first came here it started at 12 noon with the wheelchairs starting slightly ahead. Now the wheelchairs start at 9:22, the elite woman 9:30, the elite men and wave 1 at 10 and wave 2 at 10:30. The number of participants has grown so over the years that this is their attempt to maintain a level of control over the race. Here is a link to the official website: http://www.baa.org/BostonMarathon/113thMarathon.aspYou can find all kinds of history and info if so inclined.
The marathon always has some great stories but one of the best is that of Rick and Dick Hoyt:
Dick 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 Dick, who is 68, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.
At Rick’s birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain. Dick 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," Dick 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." This expert was taken from Team Hoyt at http://www.teamhoyt.com/history.shtml
"It’s been a story of exclusion ever since he was born," Dick 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." This expert was taken from Team Hoyt at http://www.teamhoyt.com/history.shtml
To see a clip about them check out:
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