Terry Fox would have been proud to see the hundreds of runners coming together for this year's Victoria Terry Fox Run.
Just a few dozen metres from the young man’s statue near the city’s Mile Zero Monument, people of all ages set off under the radiant sun for the annual five-kilometre race along Dallas Road.
As the air horn blew shortly before 10:30 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 15, bagpipe players marked the beginning of the race.
While waiting for the participants’ return, event organizer Darren Wark described this year’s race as “extremely successful.” The man estimated the number of runners to be south of 1,000 and added that the event is on track to be the highest-grossing in its history.
“I'd say we're probably about $15,000 more than last year,” he said.
With an initial goal of raising $51,000 for cancer research, the run’s website showed a total of $54,400 raised - 107 percent of the organizer’s target - and still counting.
Wark thanked participants, volunteers, and the 800 donors, who made this event a success.
“The support from Victoria has been fabulous and it's great to see everybody out here,” he said. “We've got one of the best-run locations in Canada; there are not many places where you've got the Pacific Ocean on your shoulder the whole way.”
Numerous other runs were held across Canada and beyond today, including in Nanaimo, Parksville, Duncan, Port Hardy, and Campbell River.
In Terry Fox’s footsteps
Born in Winnipeg, Man., and raised in Port Coquitlam, B.C., Terry Fox was 18 years old when he was diagnosed with bone cancer and had to have his right leg amputated. His personal experience motivated him to raise money for cancer research, a move that took the form of the Marathon of Hope.
After months of training, Fox began his cross-country run in St. John’s, N.L., garnering a frenzy of fans and media attention along the way.
In September 1980, after running for more than four months, Fox was forced to stop his marathon in Thunder Bay, Ont., after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died the next June at the age of 22.
But his story didn’t end there. Since the first Terry Fox Run in 1981, the event has grown exponentially. Now involving millions of participants across over 60 countries, it stands as the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research. The foundation has reported raising over $850 million since the first run.
Proud to be part of the fundraising effort, Wark emphasized that every dollar raised makes a difference in furthering cancer research.
“We all have a cancer story,” he said. “There is a family that isn't impacted in some way by cancer. The research that is going on, because of the donations that people are making, is changing outcomes for folks.”
- With files from the Canadian Press
