Skip to content

Fundraising underway for Salmon Arm Terry Fox Run

Annual event to take place Sept. 15 at Blackburn Park
18302340_web1_copy_180919-SAA-Terry-Fox-family-with-dog

This September marks the 39th anniversary of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope.

People across Canada will come together to honour the courageous spirit of the young B.C. man who set out from Newfoundland in April 12, 1980 to run across Canada. Fox lost a leg to cancer and was fundraising for cancer research with his run.

Fox ran 5,373 kilometres in 143 days before he was forced to stop, Sept. 1, 1980 near Thunder Bay, Ont. due to health problems. The cancer that took his leg had come back. Fox died June 28, 1981.

During his run, he persevered through pain, weather, personal doubt, frustration.

Canadians, who have taken his remarkable example to heart and assumed his cancer research legacy as their own, have kept his spirit alive with almost 10,000 fundraising events nationwide, the annual Terry Fox Run.

Salmon Arm’s run will take place Sunday, Sept. 15 at the Blackburn Park.

“I know how proud Terry would be to know that the Terry Fox Run has become a fall tradition for millions of Canadians,” said Fox’s older brother Fred.

Read more: VIDEO: ‘Team Canada of cancer research’ unveiled where Terry Fox began run

Read more: Family participates in Salmon Arm Terry Fox run for boy in Abbotsford

Read more: Salmon Arm’s Terry Fox Run comes to Blackburn Park Sept. 16

So much has changed since Terry’s run in 1980, yet the drive for significant results in cancer research projects is just as strong as ever.

One such project is The Marathon of Hope Cancer Centre Network which is the most ambitious cancer initiative ever undertaken in Canada. This unprecedented collaboration will unite Canadian researchers and clinicians, and leverage big data to make precision medicine the standard of care for delivering best outcomes for patients no matter where they live. Organizers of this year’s run are encouraging the public to participate by registering and fundraising at terryfox.org.

Registration for the Salmon Arm Terry Fox Run will start at 8 a.m. The run will begin at 10 a.m. and end at noon.

There will be three distances to participate in—two, three and 10 kilometres. The event is suitable for bicycles, wheelchairs, strollers and rollerblades, and dogs on leashes are welcome.

For more info, visit the Salmon Arm Terry Fox Run page on Facebook.