People from across the county are expected to be out and running this Sunday in the annual Terry Fox Run for Cancer Research.
In Ontario, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take part in the annual run that began when an amputee started a run across Canada, the Marathon of Hope, to help fund cancer research and find a cure for the disease.
Last year, runners from Ontario alone raised $11.8-million in the run. Fox’s original goal was to raise $32-million, a dollar for every Canadian then.
Fox started his run on Canada’s east coast, and by the time he had nearly reached Thunder Bay in Ontario, his example had affected Canadians from coast to coast. He was stricken again with cancer and never completed the run, but Canadians have been annually running in his stead ever since.
Before Fox died, he knew that an annual event would be held to commemorate his Marathon of Hope. It would be called, appropriately The Terry Fox Run. The first run, in 1981, attracted 300,000 participants across Canada and raised $3.5-million. To date, more than $400-million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Fox’s name.
And his example has spread around the world, too. Every year, millions of people in close to 40 countries participate in the Terry Fox Run.
Locally, there are a number of events where people can take part. They include:
– Arthur, 1:30 to 4pm, at the Optimist pavilion at the fair grounds, and it is wheelchair, rollerblade and bicycle accessible;
– Drayton, at 1:30pm, at the fairgrounds on Elm Street, it is rollerblade and bicycle accessible;
– Fergus, at 10am, at the Forfar ball diamond, and it is bicycle accessible;
– Grand Valley, at 9am and 1:30pm at the community centre, and is bicycle accessible;
– Guelph, 8am to noon, at Silvercreek Park at the corner of Edinburgh and Wellington Streets, wheelchair, rollerblade and bicycle accessible;
– Mount Forest, 9am to 2pm, at the community centre on King Street, wheelchair, rollerblade, bicycle accessible;
– Palmerston, 9am to 1pm, at the firehall, wheelchair, rollerblade, bicycle accessible;
– Rockwood, noon to 2pm, at the Centennial Public School Teachers’ Park, wheelchair, rollerblade, bicycle accessible.
