Terry Fox Run celebrates 35th Anniversary in 2015

September 23, 2015 · 0 Comments

This past Sunday, September 20th, thirty-one local runners took on their choice of a 5k or 10k course to raise funds for Cancer Research in Terry’s name. This was the 35th Anniversary and organizer Joan Wallace says “the number of runners is up from previous years”.
The Terry Fox Run is a non-competitive event where people get together as individuals, families and groups to raise money for cancer research in Terry’s name. Its a day of celebrating Terry’s legacy and helping to keep his dream alive of finding a cure for cancer.
Who would have thought that when this young man dipped his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean on April 12, 1980 in St. John’s Newfoundland that he would leave such a huge legacy. After 143 days of running through six provinces, a total of 5,373 kilometres, he had to stop outside Thunder Bay, Ontario as his primary cancer had spread to his lungs.
On June 28, 1981 after treatment with chemotherapy and interferon, Terry Fox dies at the Royal Columbian Hospital, New Westminster, British Columbia, one month short of his twenty-third birthday.
Subsequently on September 13, 1981 the first Terry Fox Run was held at more than 760 sites in Canada and around the world. With the initial event attracting 300,000 participants and raising $3.5 million.
Currently the Terry Fox runs take place in over 9,000 communities across Canada every year and are accessible to anyone with no entry fee, no minimum pledge and a non-competitive atmosphere. Participants can run, walk, blade or bike while raising funds for cancer research.
As of May 2014, the Foundation announced that over $650 million has been raised to support cancer research in Terry’s name.
Truth told, we have all been touched by cancer in one way or anther. Next years Terry Fox run is scheduled for September 18, 2016. Help fight this awful disease and register to participate when registration opens in April 2016.
For more information on the Terry Fox Run you can go to www.terryfox.org

By Michelle Austen