Today was the Vermont City Marathon and Kayla went down to cheer on her father and Ted Painter. Ted is part of the team “In the ‘Nick’ of Time” which is a competitive running team composed of partners Nick Draper and Ted Painter. Both Nick and Ted are members of the New England chapter of Team Hoyt http://www.teamhoyt.com/index.html. Team Hoyt Foundation is a non-profit organization that aspires to encourage children with special needs to be a part of their community.
Nick Draper was born with a rare condition called Pelizaeus Merzbacher Disease. This disease impairs motor function development and, in Nicks case, has left him with extremely limited mobility. Although limited by mobility, Nick has an unlimited amount of drive and determination to lead a full life.
Ted Painter is a lifelong runner and experienced marathon competitor who was looking to find a way to use time spent running to benefit more than his own health and desire to compete. A long admirer of Dick and Rick Hoyt, Ted enthusiastically accepted an invitation to join the New England chapter of Team Hoyt. Nick and Ted were introduced at the very first race that they competed in and since then Team “In the ‘Nick’ of Time” has been competing together nearly every weekend.
The Hoyt Foundation is very resourceful at getting adaptive strollers for running or for pulling behind a bike. They have numerous running races throughout the year that include people with all types of disabilities being pushed in adaptive strollers. Check out the http://www.teamhoyt.com/Calendar.html and you will most likely see the dynamic duo, Dick and Rick or Ted Painter, “In the ‘Nick’ of Time” which is truly inspirational!
