COVINGTON, Ga. – Having overcome a handful of hardships, Hoyt Baker has remained resilient when it comes to running. On Tuesday, July 4, Baker ran his 41st Peachtree Road Race and he already has his sights set on the next one.

“The running keeps me going. It’s in my blood now,” Baker said.

Baker’s love for running spurred when he was a 33-year old as a vow to himself to lose weight and improve his health. At the ripe age of 75, Baker has run one full marathon along with several half marathons, 10Ks and 5Ks.

“Before then, I’d never even thought about running,” Baker said. “I lost 50 pounds in about three or four months.”

In 1982, a year after Baker began running consistently, he registered for the Peachtree  Road Race, unknowingly setting a tradition he would resume 41 more times.

“I had just seen it on TV or read about it in the newspaper,” Baker said. “I did know a couple people that did it and when I started, I had no idea I would do over two or three of them. It was probably, maybe 15 years into it I decided, ‘Yeah, I just need to keep doing this.’”

With the exception of 1986 due to a family death, Baker has participated in the Peachtree Road Race every year. Despite his familiarity with the world’s largest 10K race, one aspect of the race continues to be his favorite part, motivating him to cross the finish line.

“The crowd. And going by the Shepherd Center, the spinal center where they’re treating spinal injury patients,” Baker said. “The nurses bring those patients out to the sidewalk. It chokes you up. You get to fist bump them. It’s just past the midpoint of the race.”

Since becoming fully immersed in his hobby of running, Baker has endured a great deal of change. Over the course of the last 13 years, Baker has suffered a heart attack, his wife passed away and currently, bears the repercussions of a torn meniscus. Yet, Baker has maintained a steadfast passion for the sport.

“I think continuing to run kind of helps me get through it,” Baker said. “After my wife passed away, I mean, that was horrible. But I told the kids, ‘We grieve, but we gotta keep moving forward. You just gotta keep going. You gotta live life.”

“It makes you tougher. You just want to keep going,” Baker continued.

After tearing his meniscus over two years ago, Baker has altered his running habits.

“I haven’t been able to run with the intensity that I was running,” Baker said. “I’ve been [getting a shot] every six months and it’s not really helping that much. The first one did, but since then, it really hasn’t really helped [because] every step is pain.”

Throughout his running career, Baker has also competed in local annual races such as the Covington Police Department’s Fuzz Run, YMCA of Covington’s Cheerios Challenge and Covington Fire Department’s Firehouse 5K.

Though complications from his injury caused him to forgo last year’s Cheerios Challenge, Baker still managed to support fellow runners by directing traffic along the race course. He is registered for this year’s Fuzz Run.

In spite of his looming injury, Baker continues to be an active runner in the community, running nearly every other day throughout the streets of Covington.

“It’s probably three, maybe four days a week, and usually about four miles and once a week, maybe six,” Baker said.

Baker’s running achievements are reflected through his vast t-shirt collection. After obtaining dozens of Peachtree Road Race t-shirts since his start in 1982, Baker had the idea to memorialize his ongoing tradition through quilting with the help of longtime friend Martha Bishop.

Bishop has lended her quilting skills towards creating two quilts compiled of Baker’s Peachtree Road Race shirts. The first quilt was finished in 2003, featuring shirts spanning from 1982-2002. Baker’s wish of having an heirloom for each of his two children was fulfilled in 2022, when Bishop completed the second quilt displaying t-shirts from 2003-2022.

“It was a thrill to get to do,” Bishop said. “It’s something to pass down from generation to generation rather than just getting eaten away in a closet somewhere. To me it’s like a trophy for him to have.” 

In addition to the handcrafted quilts, other pieces of keepsakes include photos from prior races and a mug commemorating Baker’s participation in the 50th Peachtree Road Race in 2019.

For people looking to get started in the sport of running, Baker’s advice is simple: “don’t overdo it.”

“That’s what happens to so many people,” Baker said. “They say, ‘oh, I’m gonna start running.’ And they take off, try to run five miles the first day, and they can’t do it. They get frustrated and don’t try it again. Start out in small increments and just work your way up.”

Likewise, along with continuing his Peachtree Road Race tradition, Baker’s goal is straightforward and candid.