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Community comes out for Terry Fox Run and its cause

Event was held Sunday morning at Nanaimo’s Bowen Park, raised $24,000 for cancer research

The Terry Fox Run continues a legacy that can be traced back to the Marathon of Hope.

The Terry Fox Run was held in Nanaimo on Sunday morning at Bowen Park, with hundreds of people showing up to the start line on a damp day.

Runners and walkers set off on two- or five-kilometre routes around the park and Buttertubs Marsh, but before that, took a moment to think about their reasons to participate.

Nanaimo Mayor Bill McKay recalled how Canadians followed, via the news, Fox’s Marathon of Hope in 1980.

“We followed him and his team as his prosthetics broke, when he was hurt, when it was horrible weather; we couldn’t believe that this young man with this level of determination would carry on. But he did carry on – 143 days, over 3,300 miles,” McKay said. “To be inspired by somebody like that is moving. When he had to stop his run and he ended up in hospital, people wept for Terry. People believed that somehow, some way, his legacy should go on. Well, here we are today, 38 years later; Terry’s legacy is living on.”

Kathleen Van Doorn, event co-organizer, was happy with the turnout of 307 people, especially since the weather wasn’t perfect. Numerous businesses supported the event and 30 volunteers helped out.

The Nanaimo run raised $23,880.

It was Van Doorn’s last year as organizer and she said she’s lost people to cancer whom she’s cared about, so being involved in putting on the run/walk has made her feel like she’s doing something.

“Because when cancer takes a loved one, you feel helpless, and by people coming together like this in Terry’s honour, it really feels like a step towards not being helpless,” she said.

The Terry Fox Run benefits the Terry Fox Foundation for cancer research.



editor@nanaimobulletin.com

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