Team Hoyt - doing it tough the last two years
By Lin Molloy
Posted Sunday, 10 April, 2005
The Hyannis Half Marathon in February, 2003, was just like any other race for Dick and Rick Hoyt, with one exception. Dick had suffered a heart attack without knowing it. Apart from a tickle in the throat that caused him to drink at every water stop, everything was fine and Rick and Dick finished second in his age group. After the race they signed books, helped his friend Dave Laprise load up the van before heading back to Holland, MA.
They competed in five more races but still Dick had this annoying tickle in his throat. Three weeks before the Boston Marathon, Dick saw his doctor and they did an EKG. Dick explained that because of the physical condition he is in, his EKG’s look like he is having a massive heart attack. With this in mind, the doctor gave him the ‘ok’ and sent him home.
On his way to the health club the next day, he received a call from his doctor telling him that he had in fact had a heart attack and should go straight to the hospital. They did a stress test, the results of which shattered all records at the hospital. They shut the stress test machine off after 30 minutes (over double the time for most tests) and took X-Rays. Dick needed an angioplasty and had 3 stints inserted. The main artery was 95% clogged and another 85%.The Doctors were amazed that Dick did not show more symptoms, not to mention competing with this kind of blockage.
With just 3 weeks to go before their 22nd straight Boston Marathon, the doctor told Dick that because of the incredible physical condition he was in, Team Hoyt just might be able to compete but the doctor sought the opinion of the 6 top heart specialists in the world and all six were of the opinion that it was too soon for them to compete, and Boston had to be put on hold till the following year. Team Hoyt then took 4 weeks off from competition before entering some triathlons in preparation for the Hawaiian Ironman in October.
The Hawaiian Ironman was destined to have difficulties of a totally different nature. New equipment was planned for this race but just 2 weeks before leaving for Hawaii, had still not arrived. With no chance to test it out in training, it was not until the morning of the race that they discovered a ‘balancing problem’ with the equipment. Their swim went well but 85 miles into the bike portion they had an accident which landed them in hospital for 5 hours, left Rick with 8 stitches over his right eye and Team Hoyt with a bad case of painful ‘road rash’.
Not to be defeated, upon their return home they flew out to San Diego to compete in the swim portion of the Physically Challenged Triathlon. In spite of their early setback, in 2003 they competed in 35 events.
A better year was ahead for Team Hoyt in 2004 and they competed in a total of 45 events, including their 23rd Boston Marathon.
For 2005, Rick and Dick have scheduled 50 athletic events, including their 24th Boston Marathon and a ‘short 10K’ at the Groton Road Race in April. They also plan to be in Hawaii for another challenge in the Ironman Triathlon in October.
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