Millions of Ontarians participated in Terry Fox Runs last year helping to raise $12 million for cancer research and that autumn tradition continues Sept. 16 as organizers of the event prepare for the 32nd year of the run.
Elmira’s annual Terry Fox Run usually has some 45 participants and over the last three years has raised more than $35,000 for cancer research through pledges and donations. There are 220 run sites in the province and Elmira has placed in the top 20 for the last several years due to its fundraising efforts.
“We are one of the smaller run sites but we do manage to raise quite a significant amount for the foundation,” said Kathy Bowman, who spearheads the local run.
“The people in Elmira care and they give because cancer has touched everybody.”
This year the coordinators of the run in Elmira are planning to sell ‘in honour of’ and ‘in memory of signs’ that participants can purchase, decorate and return to organizers, who will then place them along the run route. Each sign costs $25, and comes with a tax receipt.
“’In honour of’ is for someone who has survived cancer or is battling it currently and ‘in memory of’ is for someone who did not win their fight but is still missed and loved,” she explained.
The first Terry Fox Run was held on Sept. 13 1981, and has become an international event which sees more than three million people in some 60 countries taking part.
It’s the world’s largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research, and has raised more than $600 million in Fox’s name.
In 2011 the Terry Fox Foundation invested $27.5 million into cancer discovery research, translational research and training.
Having his right leg amputated at the age of 18 due to bone cancer, Fox started his cross-country Marathon of Hope in St. John’s on Apr. 12, 1980 to raise money for cancer patients and research. His run lasted 143 days and 5,373 kilometres before the return of cancer, this time to his lungs, which forced him to stop outside of Thunder Bay on Sept. 1, 1980. Fox died on June 28, 1981 at the age of 22. The first Terry Fox Run was held later that year.
“You can’t go anywhere or meet anyone that cancer has not affected their lives in some way, shape or form. There is always someone who has been affected by cancer,” said Bowman.
This year, registration begins at noon on Sept. 16 in the front lawns of Program Insurance Brokers, where participants will find a barbecue set up by the Elmira Optimist Club, which has agreed to help out. The run begins at 1 p.m. and is a 5-kilometre walk, run or ride.
