In just 4 short months (EEK!), I will be running the 116th Boston Marathon! I have the incredible honor of running with and respresenting Team Hoyt, a father son team that races in endurance events to raise funds and support for disabled athletes. This will be my 5th consecutive year running in Boston with the Hoyts, and this year marks their 30th Boston Marathon! Their message of “YES YOU CAN” inspires millions of people around the world, and I feel very strongly that it is a message that should be shared with everyone!

I want to say thank you to my friends and family who have contributed to the Hoyt Foundation over the years—I sincerely appreciate the support you’ve shown me, but more importantly the Hoyt Foundation. If you haven't heard of the Hoyts, please take a minute to check out their incredible story here:

Please support the Hoyt’s “Yes You Can” message by using the DONATE button on this page to make a contribution to The Hoyt Foundation.

My commitment as a qualified runner for Team Hoyt is $1500 for the 2012 Boston Marathon. Please donate to inspire and support physically challenged people to be active in their communities—you will be making an incredible difference in someone’s life by doing so.

How to Donate

You can donate by clicking the DONATE button at the top of the page

OR by

Sending a check payable to The Hoyt Foundation to me: Amanda Gordon, 1456 North Bertha Place Oak Harbor, WA 98277.

About Me

I first heard about Team Hoyt through their “Imagine” video, sent to me by my best friend’s dad, who is an athlete battling MS. The Hoyt’s story was incredibly inspiring to me: Dick and Rick’s incredible bond, determination, and humility are unlike anything I’ve ever encountered.

A few years later, my cousin Doug Gilliland told me about the Hoyt’s Boston Marathon Team and let me know that they had a spot open, and I’ve found a way to get back to Boston with them every year since then.

The message that the Hoyts spread—“Yes You Can” is an inclusive message that touches anyone who has ever been told that they can’t do something, and I hope you want to spread this message as much as I do! I hope you'll thoughtfully consider donating to such a worthy cause--and please know that every single dollar makes a difference--no donation is too small! 

About the Hoyts:

Rick Hoyt was born in 1962 to Dick and Judy Hoyt.  During child birth, Rick's umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck cutting off the supply of oxygen to Rick's brian.  He was diagnosed as a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy.  Doctors advised Dick and Judy to institutionalize Rick because he was a vegetable.  Dick and Judy refused and brought Rick home.

Dick and Judy could tell that Rick could comprehend his surroundings even though the medical doctors continued to insist Rick was a vegetable.  In 1972, the Hoyt's took a second mortgage on their home, borrowing $5,000.  They paid that amount to a group of skilled engineers at Tufts University that built an "interactive computer" for Rick.  Rick was able to see the letters of the alphabet and select the ones he wanted by pressing a pad on the headrest of his wheelchair with his head, the only part of his body he can move voluntarily.  The first words Rick ever "spoke" were "Go Bruins!"  The Boston Bruins were in the Stanley Cup that year and it turned out Rick was a Bruins fan.

In the spring of 1977, Rick told his dad that he wanted to compete in a 5 mile road race to help raise money for a lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident.  Dick, a non-runner pushed Rick for the full 5 miles, and they finished next to last.  Later that night, Rick typed "Dad, when I'm running, it feels like I'm not handicapped."  And that is when it all started.

To date, Team Hoyt has finished 240 triathlons, 6 Ironman distance triathlons, 92 half marathons, 69 marathons, 32 Falmouth 7.1 milers, have a marathon PR of 2:40:47 and half marathon PR of 1:21:12.  They are two of only 25 total members of the Ironman Hall of Fame, carried the Olympic torch in 1996 and rode a bike from Santa Monica, CA to Boston Harbor in 40 consecutive days.

Last August, the Hoyt's received an e-mail from Boston Bruins' defenseman Andrew Ference that read, "I wanted to let you know that the Boston Bruins watched and were inspired by your video prior to our Stanley Cup victory.  It would be my honor to meet you and have you join me in Boston during my day with the Stanley Cup."  And they did.

On Monday, April 16, 2012, Dick and Rick Hoyt will be running their 30th Boston Marathon.  They will be joined by a team of 40 carefully selected athletes from Australia, Canada and across the United States to form the 2012 Team Hoyt Boston Marathon Team.  The team will be runningt to raise money for the Hoyt Foundation, Inc., an IRS 501(c)(3) charity whose purpose is help integrate handicapped people into everyday activities so they may live fruitful and productive lives.

None of the funds raised go to administration of the Hoyt Foundation as it is 100% run by volunteers.  The Hoyt Foundation gives gifts each year of $25,000 to the Easter Seals summer camp programs and, of course, to the Tufts University Interactive Computer Department.

This years team is made possible by our generous sponsor and principal sponsor of the Boston MArathon, John Hancock.  We are very fortunate to be coached again this year by three time Boston Marathon Champion, former No. 1 ranked marathoner in the world, New York City Marathon Champion, Berlin Marathon Champion and former world record holder Uta Pippig.

Our team of both qualified and chairty runners have set a fundraising goal of $200,000 which would eclipse our former record by $75,000.  Please give generously as our runners train, sweat, hurt and raise funds for the Hoyt Foundation, Inc.  The Hoyt Foundation, Inc. is an IRS 501(c)(3) charity.  Checks can be made payable to the Hoyt Foundation, Inc. and mailed to 241 Mashapaug Road, Holland, Massachusetts 01521.