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星期四, 4月 09, 2015

Team Hoyt’s Dick Hoyt Named Grand Marshal of the 2015 Boston Marathon

Team Hoyt’s Dick Hoyt Named Grand Marshal of the 2015 Boston Marathon

Along with son Rick, Dick Hoyt Completed 32 Boston Marathons. Lisa Rainsberger to be Honorary Starter of Elite Women’s Race.

BOSTON – The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) announced today that Dick Hoyt of Team Hoyt will be the Grand Marshal of the 2015 Boston Marathon® on Monday, April 20. Two of the Boston Marathon’s most recognizable figures, Dick and son Rick Hoyt completed their 32nd and final Boston Marathon together in 2014. Dick announced afterwards that he would retire from the Boston Marathon.

Dick and Rick Hoyt first ran from Hopkinton to Boston in 1980. In the three decades since, both father and son have inspired countless participants and spectators with their unrelenting will power, determination, and incredible bond. Since 2008, Boston Marathon Principal Sponsor John Hancock has been proud to serve as a corporate sponsor of Team Hoyt, supporting Dick and Rick’s inspirational example.

“Year after year, Dick and Rick Hoyt toed the starting line in Hopkinton to celebrate the Boston Marathon, showing millions of runners and spectators they could achieve anything and that there are no limits,” said Tom Grilk, Executive Director of the Boston Athletic Association. “Although he will not be racing this year, Dick will continue to be at the head of the field, leading 30,000 runners on their trek to Boston. Dick and Rick Hoyt will forever be synonymous with the Boston Marathon and the sport of running.”

Rick was born a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, unable to walk or talk. When Rick was 15, he asked Dick to push him in a five-mile road race to benefit a local recently-paralyzed lacrosse player. Since then, the Hoyts have competed in more than 1,000 road races, marathons, and triathlons, father pushing son in a specialized wheelchair. Team Hoyt’s 1,000th race together came at the 2009 Boston Marathon.

Rick will again participate in the Boston Marathon, this year pushed by fellow Team Hoyt athlete Bryan Lyons.

Dick, 74, and Rick, 53, had planned for the 2013 Boston Marathon to be their final race as a duo. In response to the tragic events of April 2013, the pair resolved to run Boston one more time in honor of those who were most affected. On April 21, 2014, the Hoyts crossed the finish line with nearly 20 members of Team Hoyt, the organization they created to help those who are physically disabled become active members of the community. In 2014, the team crossed the finish line on Boylston Street in 7 hours, 37 minutes, and 33 seconds.

As Grand Marshal, Dick will ride in a pace car ahead of the lead runners, heralding to spectators along the course that thousands of runners will soon be coming. The B.A.A. has reserved the grand marshal role as a position of recognition and honor. Last year’s grand marshal was four-time Boston Marathon winner Bill Rodgers, while the 2013 Grand Marshals were Roberta “Bobbi” Gibb and Sara Mae Berman, Boston champions and pioneers of women’s marathon running.

The B.A.A. also announced today that 1985 champion Lisa Rainsberger will be the official starter for the Elite Women’s division of the Boston Marathon. This year, Rainsberger celebrates the 30th anniversary of her victory, the last by an American woman in the open division.

At the 1985 Boston Marathon, Rainsberger cruised to victory in a time of 2:34:06, defeating the field by more than six minutes. After starting the Elite Women’s division, Rainsberger will run the Boston Marathon. She is also planning to participate in the B.A.A. 5K two days prior.

Boston Athletic Association Executive Director Tom Grilk will start the Boston Marathon Mobility Impaired participants, while B.A.A. President Joann Flaminio will start the men’s and women’s Push Rim Wheelchair divisions. Christina Whelton, daughter of B.A.A. Board of Governors member Thomas W. Whelton, will start the Elite Men and Wave 1 at 10:00 a.m. A member of Boston’s legendary Brown family, Christina is the granddaughter of Walter Brown, founder of the Boston Celtics, former owner of the Boston Bruins, and President of the B.A.A. from 1941-1964.

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