About Us | Team Hoyt Denver

— TEAM HOYT DENVER · FRONT RANGE

MILE 01 Who we are

A team built on a stubborn idea.

Team Hoyt Denver is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the joy of running races to people with disabilities in the Denver metro area. We pair runner athletes with rider athletes who are pushed to the finish line in specialized wheelchairs, ensuring that no one is left on the sidelines. Our mission is to carry on the legacy of the Hoyt family and provide an inclusive environment for all to participate in running events.

Our team is made up of amazing volunteers with a passion for equity and inclusion in sports. We are always looking to grow our team. We need runner athletes, rider athletes, race day support, cheerleaders and more.

— THE HOYT LEGACY · SINCE 1977

MILE 02 The Hoyt legacy

A movement that started with one race.

In 1977, Rick Hoyt — born a spastic quadriplegic — told his father Dick that he wanted to participate in a 5-mile benefit run for a paralyzed lacrosse player. Dick had never competed in a running race. They finished, and after the race Rick told his father that when they were running, his disability disappeared.

When we were running, it felt like my disability disappeared. — Rick Hoyt, 1977

Over the next thirty years, Rick and Dick competed in more than 1,000 races, including 32 Boston Marathons and 6 Ironmans. In 2013 they were awarded the ESPY Jimmy V Perseverance Award. The Hoyt Foundation continues their work today — and Team Hoyt Denver carries that spirit to the Denver metro area as a separate and distinct legal entity from Team Hoyt and The Hoyt Foundation, Inc.

Visit teamhoyt.com

Team Hoyt Denver community partners on the Front Range

— COMMUNITY POWERED · FRONT RANGE

MILE 03 How we operate

Volunteer-led. Community-powered.

Team Hoyt Denver is powered by volunteer leadership, community partners, runner athletes, rider athletes, and families who want adaptive racing to be visible and accessible.

MILE 04 Leadership N°11 TEAM

The board and volunteer leaders.

The people behind Team Hoyt Denver bring decades of nonprofit, athletic, and community experience to the work of growing inclusive racing in Colorado.

Board of Directors

President

Stacey Hicks

Stacey leads strategic planning, sponsor partnerships, fundraising, program development, volunteer leadership, and the Board of Directors. She spent more than 20 years in technology marketing before shifting to mission-driven work in 2010. A lifelong runner with 10 marathons and hundreds of races behind her, Stacey is passionate about sharing the thrill of racing with athletes with disabilities.

Vice President and Marketing Chair

Ali Bowling

Ali oversees the chapter's activities and supervises the affairs of the chapter, Board of Directors, and its officers. Raised in Denver and a University of Colorado Boulder graduate, Ali is passionate about the active Colorado lifestyle and Team Hoyt Denver's mission of creating an inclusive environment for running events.

Secretary and Event Manager

Cara Frangipane

Cara is a passionate athlete who believes everyone should have the opportunity to be active outdoors. As VP of Transaction Management, she oversees complex financial transactions and brings those skills to nonprofit operations. The Hoyt brothers are her cousins, and the family's example has long inspired her to help build a Team Hoyt chapter on the Front Range.

Treasurer

Lori Deacon

Lori has been involved with nonprofits and school development for thirty years. Her team manages financial activities for 22 charter schools, and she has worked with more than 50 charter and nonprofit organizations since leaving the school she opened in 2006.

Director and Race Manager

Allie DaCar

Allie is a California native who embraced Colorado's active lifestyle after moving to Denver in 2022. She has completed two marathons, an Ironman 70.3, and several half marathons. Her work with Achilles Denver helped her discover a passion for inclusive running, and she now builds the race calendar and works with race organizers for Team Hoyt Denver.

Director and Communications Advisor

Ricardo Adame

Ricardo joined the board in September 2025 after more than thirty years of leadership and strategic communications experience. He has held senior roles at Microsoft, Newmont Mining, and AVG Technologies, and he brings a deep commitment to inclusion, social responsibility, and volunteerism.

Director

Thatcher Bowling

Thatcher is a founding board member and Merchandise Manager who steps in wherever support is needed. He helps manage gear, assist with event coordination, support equipment, and keep operations running smoothly while helping foster a welcoming community for athletes of all abilities.

Volunteer Leadership

Athlete Ambassador

Sarah Holt

Sarah is a 20-year-old Team Hoyt Denver athlete who brings heart, resilience, and joy to every race. Living with cerebral palsy, involuntary movements, extreme muscle tightness, and visual impairment, she loves being part of a group where she belongs without having to explain herself.

Racing Chair Manager

Erik Carrera

Erik studied Mechanical Engineering at Baylor University and earned an MS in Biomedical Engineering at CU Denver - Anschutz Medical Campus. His love of fitness, CrossFit, distance running, Spartan Races, and biomedical engineering all inform his commitment to helping athletes with extra challenges be part of a fitness community.

Technology Manager

Chuck Talley

Chuck is the proud dad of Jack, a Team Hoyt athlete with quadriplegic cerebral palsy. As Technology Manager, he supports the community behind the scenes while also pushing Jack in races. Chuck has completed a half and full marathon, shares winter sit-skiing with Jack, and brings years of leadership delivering worldwide cybersecurity services.

Volunteer Coordinator

Bjorn Robinson

Björn is a 22-year-old living with type 2 Spinal Muscular Atrophy who recently graduated from the University of Denver, where he studied finance and communications. Sports have always been a passion — from competitive wheelchair soccer to, more recently, 5Ks with Team Hoyt Denver — and he loves the freedom, clarity, and camaraderie of riding in the race wheelchair while soaking up the sunlight alongside his fellow athletes and runners. As he puts it, "Being part of Team Hoyt Denver has been life-changing because, for the first time, I get to experience the freedom and excitement of moving at the same speed as everyone else."

MILE 05 The national network N°13 CHAPTERS

One family. Coast to coast.

Team Hoyt Denver is one of a national network of independent chapters carrying the Hoyt legacy forward — each a separate nonprofit, all chasing the same finish line: a start line for everyone.

FINISH Join the team

Be part of what's next.

Runner, rider, family, sponsor, volunteer — the team is built from people who decided to show up. There's a place for you.

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