Mr. Gilliland is the Charity Race Director for Dick and Rick Hoyt, also known as Team Hoyt. Rick Hoyt was born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, restricting the oxygen to his brain causing cerebral palsy resulting in spastic quadriplegia. The doctors told Dick and his wife to put Rick in an institution because he was a vegetable. The Hoyts refused and brought Rick home. When Rick was 10 years old, a group of talented engineers from Tufts University created an interactive computer through which Rick could communicate using his head to press against a pad to select letters to spell a sentence. The computer worked and Rick proved he was not a vegetable by spelling his first words, "Go Bruins!" As it turned out, the Boston Bruins were going for the Stanley Cup in 1972 and Rick was a big Bruins fan.
Shortly thereafter, Rick told his father that he wanted to participate in a 5 mile run to support a local high school athlete that had recently been paralyzed in an accident. Dick, a non-runner, pushed Rick in a wheel chair the entire five miles. After the race, Rick told his father that when they run, it feels like he is no longer handicapped. And the rest is history.
In 2010, the Hoyts, famously known in New England as Team Hoyt, finished their 28th Boston Marathon. They have a marathon personal best of 2 hours and 40 minutes which, at the time, was 30 minutes behind the world record (for runners not pushing their son in a wheel chair). They started competing in triathlons together and Dick would tow Rick in a boat for the swim, ride with Rick on the handlebars for the bike and push him in his wheelchair for the run. They have competed 8 Ironman triathons (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run) and were inducted into the Ironman Hall of Fame in 2008.
In 2005, Mr. Gilliland became the charity race director for Team Hoyt. The charity race team runs the Boston Marathon each year to raise money for the Hoyt Foundation whose objective is to raise public awareness of the challenges faced by the disabled. With the invaluable support of Jim Boyle, CEO of John Hancock Financial, the program has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Hoyt Foundation.
Mr. Gilliland has run the Boston Marathon with the Hoyts in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. The 115th Boston Marathon will be held on April 18, 2011. This will be the Hoyts' 29th Boston Marathon. Dick will be 70 years old and Rick will be 49.
To learn more about Team Hoyt, please visit their Web site at www.teamhoyt.com. To take the magic step with the charity team's coach and three time Boston Marathon champion Uta Pippig, visit www.takethemagicstep.com. To see a video of the Hoyts in action, see the most viewed Youtube video of 2007, Imagine. To see the Real Heros on the Today Show click on the following link: Today Show with Anne Curry. To make a donation to the Hoyt Foundation, contact Kathy Boyer at www.teamhoyt.com. For information about joining the Team Hoyt Boston Marathon team for 2011, contact Mr. Gilliland at dgilliland@sandiegotriallawyers.com.
