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Date: 4/25/2022
HOLLAND – For the first time, the Team Hoyt New England 5K is coming to Holland on May 14.
The Team Hoyt New England 5K is a run, walk, push, volunteer, cheer and sponsor opportunity for friends, fans and local businesses alike. The event will start and finish at the Holland Elementary School, 28 Sturbridge Rd. The event starts at 10 a.m. and registration will start at 8 a.m. Money raised in this event will go to Team Hoyt New England.
Race Director BJ Williams said, “It will be a good community event; bringing out a lot of different individual teams that we have throughout New England. Fathers pushing sons, and daughters pushing their mothers. All kind of different teams; friends pushing friends, it’s really great to see.”
Williams explained that they wanted to get Team Hoyt New England’s name out there for those who are unaware of the group. The event in Holland is their way of expanding what Team Hoyt does and who they are.
Team Hoyt New England is a subset chapter of the Hoyt Foundation, built to push the mission of what father/son duo Dick and Rick Hoyt created years ago about inclusion and aiming to help those who are physically disabled in becoming active members of the community. It allows individuals to come out – whether they are runners who can push individuals in chairs or individuals can come and be riders in chairs, just so they can take part in different events, 5K road races and half marathons.
In 1977, Rick told his father Dick he wanted to participate in a 5-mile benefit run for a lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair, and they finished all 5 miles. Though they came in next to last, Rick told his father that participating in the event made him feel like his disability went away. From that point on, Dick and Rick completed over 1,000 races including marathons, duathlons and triathlons. They also biked and ran across the U.S. in 1992, completing a full 3,735 miles in 45 days.
The duo inspired many people over the years. Unfortunately, Dick passed away in March of 2021. Given that they were both born and raised in New England, they are the inspiration behind the formation of Team Hoyt New England.
“Everything really stemmed from Dick Hoyt,” Williams said. “Team Hoyt New England’s mission was to raise awareness and inclusion, along the lines of educating, inspiring and enriching lives of individuals and families in the community.”
He continued, “It was their motto of what Dick and Rick started back in the early ‘80s where Dick started pushing Rick at road races to where at times it wasn’t accepted or allowed, but overtime individuals around the world have seen the power of what inclusion provides. Dick and Rick wanted to expand that within New England and expand throughout the country as well with all different chapters.”
As of press time, over 60 people have signed up to participate in Hollands 5k. Williams told Reminder Publishing “it’s slowly getting there” since times have changed in the past two years. Since the coronavirus pandemic, road race attendance have been smaller, yet he’s confident that it will pick up in numbers.
The race has a handful of sponsors such as Bird Store and More, Cornerstone Bank, Table Talk Pie, Elm Centre Cafe, Palmer Paving, Schott Glass, Hardwick Winery, Harrows Chicken Pies, Hubbard Physical Therapy and more. Their goal is to have the door open for people who want to be a sponsor or give donations. Currently, sponsors are still coming in.
“We just want to have the event expanded as much as we can if people are interested in coming out and learning about Team Hoyt New England,” Williams responded. “Learning about what really entails Team Hoyt New England, that’s our end goal. If it’s 60 people or 200 people, we’ll be happy with whatever the number is.”
Registration is open on their website at www.teamhoyt-newengland.com, located under the road races they have on their race schedule. Visit their Facebook page at Team Hoyt New England for more information.