Dear PB Readers,

My father has one thumb that pops out of the joint easily and an ankle that acts up on a regular basis. I am now forty-two years of age and my ankle and thumb behave exactly like my dad's. Our fathers often pass on many things. Values, work ethic and genetics to name but a few. Rick Reilly is a writer for Sports Illustrated Magazine. He recently wrote the following story about Dick Hoyt who is a triathlete, military man and one of the most amazing fathers I have ever personally met. Below is Rick Reilly's tribute to all our dads for Fathers Day.

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to Pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck. Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars -- all in the same day (doing the Ironman Triathlon). Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much -- except save his life. this love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs. "He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life," Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. "Put him in an institution." But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way," Dick says he was told. "there's nothing going on in his brain." "Tell him a joke," Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!" And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that." Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker" who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "then it was me who was handicapped," Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks." that day changed Rick's life. "Dad," he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!" And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

"No way," Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year. Then somebody said, "Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?" How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried. Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzz kill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way," he says. Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling" he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together. This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 -- only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time. "No question about it," Rick types. "My dad is the Father of the Century." And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape," one doctor told him, "you probably would've died 15 years ago." So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life. Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day. That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy. "The thing I'd most like," Rick types, "is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once."

EDITOR'S NOTE: I have met the dynamic duo of Rick & Dick Hoyt on a number of occasions. They are more amazing in real life then you can ever imagine in a short story. Happy Fathers day to all the men in our society who care for children (both their own and others who need a man in their lives). Special thanks to my own father for his many years of guidance.

Welcome to the many new readers this week. Our goal each week is to be a free - positive source of energy and ideas. In a world where the media tends to focus on the negative and the sad, our goal each week is to be a medium shining the light on the many positive things that exist in our world but rarely ever get the recognition they deserve. Please sign up your family - friends and co-workers and continue to send in your contributions and ideas. Check out our website of all our past issues and success stories and pictures. Either go to www.personalbest.ca or email barrie@personalbest.ca.

JUNE 20th PB HIGHLIGHTS

* JOAN BAEZ QUOTE ON LIFE
* SENIOR CITIZENS WHO KNOW HOW TO INSPIRE
* THE IMPORTANCE OF CLEAR COMMUNICATION
* BARRIE'S LIFE CHANGING CHALLENGE TO 25 OF YOUR FOR 2006
* MEET OLYMPIAN SIMON WHITFIELD AND CANADIAN GREATS TUE 21ST

JOAN BAEZ QUOTE ON LIFE

"You don't get to choose how you're doing to die, or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now."

Editor's note: The three inspiring men below certainly have taken Joan Baez's quote to heart.

SENIOR CITIZENS WHO DO

Two amazing master athletes inspired me beyond belief this past week. Mike Winters is a 60 year old retired man who never misses my wife's weekly yoga class. Caron tells me that Mike has never missed a class, and at the completion of even her toughest classes he always thanks her for the honour of challenging him. This past weekend sixty year old Mike Winter finished a 24 hour - non-stop mountain bike race in Ontario (solo). Mike covered nearly 300 hilly kilometers, winning the 60 year old age group, winning the 50 year old age group, and finishing 4th in the 40+ year category. Starting at 12 noon this past Saturday, the man who is the age of most of our dad's, biked through the day, the darkness and fatigue of the night and continued onto lunch on Sunday.

While Mike was finishing his 24 hour mountain bike race in Caledon, Collingwood's Jimmie Georgas was winning his 12th National Duathlon Championship. Jimmie is closing in on 80 years old and raced the 10km run - 40km bike - 5km National Championship in Ottawa over the weekend. Most of us would be happy to cover 10km in any run and this 75-79 year old National Champion did his opening 10km run in under 1hr. I have seen Jimmie winning many of his World Championships in duathlon and he is Canada's most celebrated master athlete in biking and duathlon.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CLEAR COMMUNICATION

A man standing in line at a check out counter of a grocery store was very surprised when a very attractive woman behind him said, "Hello!" Her face was beaming. He gave her that "who are you look," and couldn't remember ever having seen her before. Then, noticing his look, she figured she had made a mistake and apologized. "Look," she said "I'm really sorry but when I first saw you, I thought you were the father of one of my children," and walked out of the store. The guy was dumbfounded and thought to himself, "What is this world coming to? Here is an attractive woman who can't keep track of who fathers her children!" Then he got a little panicky. "I don't remember her," he thought but, MAYBE ..during one of the wild parties in College he had made an error. He ran from the store and caught her in the parking lot and asked, "Are you the girl I met at a party in college? "No", she said with a horrified look on her face. I am your son's second grade teacher!

LOOKING FOR A MAJOR LIFE CHALLENGE?

Two years ago, I sent out just such a note and 30 people responded. I said I could get anyone to the finishing line of an Ironman in less then a year. The experience of seeing two dozen novices each cross the finishing line at Ironman Austria was inspiring. My great pal Larry Karasiuk was approaching his 60th birthday and had never swam a meter in his life. Larry not only swam the 2.4 miles but he added 112 miles of biking through the mountains and then a 26.2 mile run to boot. Last year I took two dozen people to Sweden and all of them got their finishers medal. July 9th, Caron and I will be in Frankfurt Germany for Ironman Germany. Along with the likely women's elite race winner (Caledon's Lisa Bentley) we have two dozen athletes who will be proudly wearing a Canadian Maple Leaf at Europe's biggest triathlon event.

Next June 16th, I will be taking 25 people to do Ironman France (the former Nice Triathlon). The breath-taking Ironman race has existed for nearly twenty-five years and may be the most beautiful course in the world. Regardless of your age (as long as you are over 19), regardless of your current fitness status, if you are interested in doing the 2006 Ironman Nice France Triathlon, I can guarantee you a life-long memory and amazing journey. If you are already training for triathlons and would love to be a part of our incredible group heading to France in June 2006, please contact me as well. My 2006 Ironman France Participation Spots will go quickly so if you are interested please contact me about the full details. barrie@personalbest.ca

MEET THE CHAMPS THIS TUE EVENING

This Tuesday evening June 21st, C3 and myself will be hosting Olympic Champion Simon Whitfield, Ironman medalist Jasper Blake, former national junior medalists Sean Bechtel, Colin Jenkins, Paul Tischelar, Daniel Wells, Kyle Jones, Andre Paul Baillargeon Smith, James Loaring and many of Canada's best endurance athletes. You have two choices. Workout and supper (easy run and optional open water swim) or supper only. The workout begins at 5:30pm and the supper at 7pm. The entire evening function is at the Royal Ambassador Hall and Banquet Centre on Innis Lake Road in Caledon. Cost is $20.00 for the workout and supper or $15.00 for the supper only. A great chance to come and meet some of Canada's most approachable world class athletes and an option for a nice easy mid-week run or swim/run. All ages and abilities are welcome. Email barrie@personalbest.ca if you are interested in the fun night (I need to know to prepare the food order).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARON

If you are lucky, you have a person who inspires you daily. My inspiration turns 38 on Tuesday. Happy Birthday to both Caron and her twin, Jill, on the 21st!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND TRY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIFE OF AT LEAST ONE OTHER PERSON!