Less than a month after Rick Hoyt died, duo Riley Pathman and Sean McQuaid of Team Hoyt San Diego “obliterated” the Guinness World Record for fastest marathon pushing a wheelchair in 2:35:26, according to Fox21. The record still needs to be ratified.
The previous record was 2:49:26, which was set just last October, by Julien Pinsonneault and Me Hour Lim.
Pathman, 24, was born with Cerebral Palsy at birth, and has been running marathons with McQuaid for five years, according to Fox21, as part of Team Hoyt San Diego.
The organization posted on social media, “We wanted to honor Rick Hoyt who was laid to rest yesterday [June 17]. What a better way to honor the man who started this all.”
"It was fantastic...[Pathman] is the heart of this run and there's nothing that summarizes better than that," McQuaid told the outlet. "Hopefully [the record will] continue to get broken and raise awareness [about the work Team Hoyt does]."
Father-son duo, Dick and Rick Hoyt, paved the way for race accessibility, with Dick pushing his son, Rick, who was born with Cerebral Palsy, for decades, including 32 Boston Marathons. The senior Hoyt died in 2021.
Heather is the former food and nutrition editor for Runner’s World, the author of The Runner’s World Vegetarian Cookbook, and a nine-time marathoner with a best of 3:23. She’s also proud of her 19:40 5K and 5:33 mile. Heather is an RRCA certified run coach.
