True inspiration...

[Brownbikerbabe]

I was looking for some inspiration for myself to keep me going on my journey to push myself harder in the gym to reach my ultimate goal and I came across this story...

I dedicate this is for all the parents on KB...

All the fathers on this KB website who love their children, and those men that will become father's one day...all the sons on this site who look up to their fathers!

I do not have a child, but I can only imagine...you would do anything for your kids.

****************************************

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay For their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.
But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a Wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and Pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes Taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick Was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him Brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him And his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an Institution.''

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes Followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was Anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' Dick says he was told. ``There's nothing going on in his brain.''

"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a Lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed Him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his Head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? ``Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want To do that.''

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran More than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he Tried. ``Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. ``I was sore For two weeks.''

That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were running, It felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly Shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

``No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a Single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few Years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then They found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he Was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick Tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud Getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you Think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? ``No way,'' he says. Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with A cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best Time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world Record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to Be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the Time.

``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a Mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries Was 95% clogged. ``If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' One doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.'' So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

``The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, ``is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''

And the video is below....


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afv5jTrC7nM[/youtube]

[The Baron]

Thank you...

[laserracer]

Hell BB that was a truly great story ..as i read it i had tears rolling down my cheeks ...yeah yeah i know big baby... but i think its a father thing.. great read and great motivation
Thanks BB

[Trudes]

Big fat tears rolling down my face. That's awesome, my god, if only more dads had half of that dad's compassion and committment to their kids!
Thanks BB.

[laserracer]

WOOHOO Trudes we can be cry baby's together

[Trudes]

Sounds good to me, I'm always in for a group waaaa waaaaaa!!

[MyGSXF:Me]

Wow!!

[Hitcher]

This is ludicrous. Who is doing what for whom? Dick Hoyt needs psychiatric help. Seriously.

[dipshit]

This is ludicrous. Who is doing what for whom? Dick Hoyt needs psychiatric help. Seriously.

I agree. A bunch of American 'lets whack off while feeling good about myself' crap.

[007XX]

This is ludicrous. Who is doing what for whom? Dick Hoyt needs psychiatric help. Seriously.

I agree. A bunch of American 'lets whack off while feeling good about myself' crap.

That's a disappointingly jaded and cynical view on the matter, but everyone's entitled to their opinion.

So then here is my viewpoint:

In a world where people focus on the sad and abject sides of humanity on a daily basis and prefer to hurt each other rather then extend a helping hand, I view this story as one of the best representations of parental love, the one that is as unconditional as it can ever be.

And frankly, I'd rather be seeing this than another report on parental violence and neglect. It's nice to see something beautiful for once.

[dipshit]

I view this story as one of the best representations of parental love, the one that is as unconditional as it can ever be.

You people must be watching too much Oprah and other PC touchy-feely American rubbish.

Shame we usually adopt all their trends and culture eventually.

[Hitcher]

That's a disappointingly jaded and cynical view on the matter

Is it? We've got this guy who likes to push his disabled son around. Fair enough. The son probably likes fresh air and social contact, his dad probably likes to keep fit. They may enjoy each other's company, but that's about an end to it.

The rest is nothing more than media fascination with novelty value. Somebody with both a hard-luck story and a gimmick.

If this were a serious form of endeavour, there would be competitive gimp-pushing events set up everywhere. That way there would be an incentive to go faster and win, rather than just turning up to push somebody around amongst a bunch of "normal" people. However if this happened, people would blow the exploitation whistle, and event organisers would be less than impressed. And fair enough too. One person doing it can get away with it.

I think this whole business is just sad. What's next? The Olympic Heptathlon? Cross-country running? Three-day eventing?

[007XX]

You people must be watching too much Oprah and other PC touchy-feely American rubbish.

Shame we usually adopt all their trends and culture eventually.

Sorry, but I never actually watch those programs, they truly sicken me with their "touchy-feely American rubbish" as you so very well put it. The thing is, I do partially agree with what you're saying, in the sense that the music and video editing was indeed targeting to bring up the ol' tear to the eye in true Hollywood fashion.

But should that detract entirely from the story itself? which in this case in my view is the beauty of a parental commitment worth knowing about.

[QUOTE=Hitcher;1967777]

Is it? We've got this guy who likes to push his disabled son around. Fair enough. The son probably likes fresh air and social contact, his dad probably likes to keep fit. They may enjoy each other's company, but that's about an end to it.

Sorry, but i respectfully disagree. It is about a child who was given a life sentence as a vegetable and a parent doing his utmost to bring a modicum of normalcy and happiness to his child.

I know that as a parent, I would do everything in my power to help my child out of any hurdle which might prove that debilitating.

The rest is nothing more than media fascination with novelty value. Somebody with both a hard-luck story and a gimmick.

As written above to Sir Dipshit, i do agree that the message could have been carried with less dramatic effect without lessening the impact and actually be more successful that way.

If this were a serious form of endeavour, there would be competitive gimp-pushing events set up everywhere. That way there would be an incentive to go faster and win, rather than just turning up to push somebody around amongst a bunch of "normal" people. However if this happened, people would blow the exploitation whistle, and event organisers would be less than impressed. And fair enough too. One person doing it can get away with it.

Once again, I'm sorry but I think the point was not about winning in the commonly accepted way that "normal people" would see it . In their own way, this father and son team win everytime they compete together.

Because they are both alive and are out there doing it. How many parents actually take the time to set aside their life to truly give time to their children?

I think this whole business is just sad. What's next? The Olympic Heptathlon? Cross-country running? Three-day eventing?

And why ever not? If they feel like it, why should they hold themselves back? After all, live and let live I say...

I choose to see this video as inspiring. Cut the dramatic "mise en scene" of the video editing and just look at the smile on the son's face. The father and son relationship is all we should see.

[Bend-it]

That's awesome BB!! Thanks for that!

The others of you, your live must be so sad that you don't believe anything good can happen without an ulterior motive. It's you I pity...