Volunteers from the local cancer society joined the Terry Fox Foundations team of volunteers in heading the annual Terry Fox Run on Sept. 16. It’s the first time the two have come together on the event and organizer Bernadette Grey for the Terry Fox Foundation said it was a great success.
In all, 137 people registered for the non-competitive event and nearly $4000 was raised.
The run/walk stared from the town hall and participants could run walk or bike three, five or seven kilometres. Cancer survivors wore red shirts others wore white or blue.
Ten-year-old Nicholas Clarke, a cancer survivor, was the star of the day and given the opportunity to blow the bullhorn for the start of the race. He said he enjoyed the run, which he also participated in.
The annual Terry Fox Run is held in honour of Terry Fox, a Canadian who, after having bone cancer and having one leg amputated, decided to run across the country to raise money for cancer research. He started his run in 1980 in St. John’s and ran an average of 42 kilometres a day. He only made it to Ontario, however, before he was forced to stop running and cancer was found in his lungs. He had run a total of 143 days and 5373 kilometres. He passed away less than a year later at the age of 22.
Since then, his legacy has continued with an annual Terry Fox Run in communities across the country. More than $600 million has been raised for cancer research from the run since Terry Fox first set out 32 years ago.
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