DICK’s Sporting Goods has teamed with Greenpoint Pictures, Brooklyn, and ad agency Anomaly, New York, to create an online content series featuring 13 vignettes focused on inspirational people, exploring what they “Run For.” Four directors from the Greenpoint roster took on the films, with SHOOT selecting as its “Best Work” entry this week the story of Dick and Rick Hoyt. The latter cannot talk or move his limbs yet has competed in over 1,000 athletic events, pushed along courses and streets by his dad Dick. Together they have competed in 31 Boston Marathons, 252 triathlons and 94 half-marathons, among other races, over the past 30-plus years.
It all started when Rick attended a college basketball game during which it was announced that a fund-raising race was being held to help pay the medical bills for a lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. When Rick came home, he told his father that somehow he had to run in that race. They did, finishing next to last in that five-mile jaunt. Age 40 at the time, Dick wasn’t a runner but he was motivated to pursue other races when Rick told him via computer after that first experience, “When I’m running, it feels like my disability disappears.”
That powerful message propelled the father and son to continue. Fast forward to today and Dick, age 72, and Rick, 51, are still going strong.
The Team Hoyt short ends with the thematic slogan that’s consistent through all the branded content profiles: “Every Runner Has A Reason.” For the Hoyts, the reasons are twofold: to show how the supposedly disabled can be able, and to inspire others who are disabled to run.
Director, creative perspectives Team Hoyt was directed by The Hudson Dusters duo, a.k.a. Niles Roth and Michael Kuhn.
“I was already familiar with Team Hoyt’s story going into this and my goal was to show it in a new and interesting way,” said Roth. “I decided to interview them together and pay attention to their reactions to one another as they each told their side of the story. This proved to be a good decision. I was able to see first hand how powerful the bond is that these two inspirational and incredible men share. To say that Rick and Dick Hoyt are inspirational is an understatement. These two men have changed the face of running forever.”
Creative director Seth Jacobs of Anomaly added, “Every runner has a reason why they run–the ‘Run For’ content series aimed to uncover some of these reasons and create authentic stories to inspire the running community. A strong, creative partnership with DICK’s Sporting Goods and Greenpoint Pictures allowed for some incredibly thoughtful work that we feel really celebrates the trials and triumphs of life and sport–and what it means to be a true runner.”
All 13 installments of Run For can be seen at DSG.com/RUNFOR.
