Participants in this year’s Terry Fox Run urged to ‘Finish it’

By Rob Vogt
There was no better way to start this year’s Terry Fox Run then by having one Canadian icon pay tribute to another.
As participants gathered at Faith Community Baptist Church on Sunday, Sept 20, for the 46th annual Terry Fox Run, emcee Brian Treadwell kicked things off by playing the perfect song for the day – “The Ballad of Terry Fox” released last month by Bryan Adams.
With the chorus of, “Yeah, the road was long where he once ran
He did the best any human can
Get across the country, that′s the plan
That’s the spirit of a man,” booming in the background, everyone got ready to hit the road.
Treadwell, a longtime media personality, said more than 650 communities across Canada were renewing Fox’s Marathon of Hope that day.
It commemorates the efforts of Terry Fox who endeavoured to run across Canada to raise awareness and funds for cancer research.
He was stopped near Thunder Bay in 1980 when his cancer reappeared, which ultimately took his life in 1981.
Treadwell noted this year’s theme is “Finish it.”
“Your participation today leaves us all humbled,” Treadwell said, adding last year Claresholm’s event raised more than $10,000.
He harkened back to the words of Fox himself, when he had to stop his Marathon of Hope in 1980.
“If there is any way I can get out there and finish it – I will,” he had said.
Treadwell said the job is simple.
“Our goal is to finish what Terry started,” he said.
Organizer Cathy Hahn then shared a recent experience she had.
She was running a table at the street market during Claresholm’s Fair Days weekend in August, promoting the Terry Fox Run.
Her goal was to raise awareness, but also make sure people knew the location had moved this year from the fire hall to Faith Community Baptist Church.
What she discovered was simply amazing.
She gave some tattoos to children and asked if they had ever heard of Terry Fox.
They all had, because they learn about him in school.
Soon after that, the stories started to come in.
One lady said she came from the same home town in Manitoba as Terry Fox’s parents.
Another lady, living in Port Coquitlam, B.C., recalled Fox running in front of her house.
“She remembered him running back and forth training for his Marathon of Hope,” Hahn said.
A lady from Nanton had seen him run during his Marathon of Hope in 1980.
And, a gentleman was five years old in 1980 when he saw Terry Fox dip his foot in the Atlantic Ocean to start his Marathon of Hope.
His mother gave him $5 to give to Terry Fox. The boy asked where was his $5 then? His mother gave him $5 too.
“He remembered handing that money to Terry Fox before he started his run,” Hahn said.
It was amazing how many lives Terry Fox had touched.
Claresholm native Rod McKenzie, who also helped organize the event, said he had run into Don and Yvonne Lunn of Claresholm earlier in the week.
They were on their way to Newfoundland.
Then, that morning, they sent McKenzie photos from the Terry Fox monument in Newfoundland.
“I thought it was kind of neat they were there the morning of the Terry Fox Run,” he said.
With that, participants were led in a warm up, then hit the streets for the 46th annual Terry Fox Run.