Terry Fox Run goes this Sunday at the fire hall

By Rob Vogt
The Terry Fox Run is an institution in Claresholm, and has been since its inception 43 years ago.
As other communities have lost their runs, Claresholm is the only community that still has a Terry Fox Run between Lethbridge and High River.
In fact, Claresholm has had a Terry Fox Run every year since they began in 1981.
This year’s run will start at 2 p.m. this Sunday, Sept. 17 at the Claresholm Fire Hall.
The route is the same as in past years.
The route crosses Highway 520 or 43rd Avenue West, going down Westlynn Drive to Eighth Street by the Willow Creek Continuing Care Centre, turning south or left past the cemetery, acreages and going to the four-way stop corner then turning around and coming back. It’s about eight kilometres in total.
Debbie Lozeman, the event organizer, said people can do any distance any way they like, whether it is running, walking, riding their bike, bringing their dog or any other way.
Fox began his Marathon of Hope in 1980, striving to run across Canada, raising one dollar for each person in Canada for cancer research.
He had lost a leg to cancer and ran the equivalent of a marathon a day on a rudimentary prosthetic leg. The cancer reappeared in his lungs, and he was forced to stop his run outside Thunder Bay, Ontario.
He passed away in June of 1981, and that September, the first Terry Fox Runs were held across Canada.
Everyone who participated last year should have received a pledge sheet and information in the mail.
People can download pledge sheets from the Terry Fox Run website at terryfox.org, clicking on “Terry Fox Run” then “Resources”, scrolling down to “Forms and more” and clicking on “Pledge sheet”. They can also call Lozeman for pledge sheets, or register at the run on Sunday.
For Lozeman, it will be a bittersweet event.
“This is my last year,” she said, adding she has been organizing the Terry Fox Run more than 20 years. “It’s time for someone else”.
Last year the event raised $11,552, the most in its 42-year history, and more than $252,000 in total since its start in 1981.
Lozeman invites everyone to participate in the Terry Fox Run. After all, everyone has been touched by cancer in some way.
“Terry, you ran for us. Now we run for you” she said.
Anyone interested in more information can contact Debbie Lozeman at 403-625-4084.