A Thousand Finish Lines

When Rick Hoyt was born in 1962 with cerebral palsy, doctors told his parents to institutionalize him. Dick and Judy Hoyt refused. They saw a person, not a diagnosis.

Years later, Rick typed out a message on his special computer: he wanted to run a charity race. Dick, who was no runner, pushed his son's wheelchair across the finish line. Afterward, Rick typed the words that changed everything: "Dad, when I'm running, it feels like I'm not handicapped."

That was all Dick needed to hear. Over the next four decades, Dick Hoyt pushed, pulled, and carried his son through more than 1,000 races — including 32 Boston Marathons and six Ironman triathlons. In the Ironman, Dick swam 2.4 miles towing Rick in a dinghy, biked 112 miles with Rick riding in a seat on the front of his bike, then pushed his wheelchair for a full 26.2-mile marathon. All in a single day.

Dick never ran a single race alone. Every mile was for his son.

The Apostle Paul writes that love "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:7). Dick Hoyt bore his son's weight across a thousand finish lines because love does not count the cost. It just keeps running.

Our Heavenly Father does the same for us. When we cannot take another step, the Almighty carries us — not because we earned it, but because that is what love does.