[2023-09-17] Terry Fox Run 2023
My son and I did the Terry Fox Run this morning. When we reached the turnaround point for the 5K, I suggested to Shane that we continue on to the second marker and do a full 10K. The weather was pleasant and the walk was beautiful, taking us from Kanata to Stittsville on the Trans Canada Trail.
I feel fortunate to be able to walk 10K after treatment for two cancers (two surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation) and efforts to avoid a third one (two surgeries to date). When Terry was diagnosed with cancer, treatment for the disease was crude and brutal. Much has changed in the 43 years since Terry launched the original Marathon of Hope. No doubt some of the advances I and others have benefited from were funded by the Terry Fox Foundation.
I asked the volunteer serving water at the half-way point of today's Terry Fox Run how many walkers/runners she had seen. "About a hundred," she replied. The Kanata walk is no doubt much smaller than the downtown Ottawa one, but our modest suburban route, down a tree-lined path, appeals to me.
Later in the day, I went to Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, still wearing my red Terry Fox Run T-shirt. A boy who looked to be about 12 years old said to me, "I love your shirt. Terry Fox is a real hero, isn't he?" I agreed. "I wish I had worn my shirt," he added. I asked him whether he had walked for anyone in particular. "My neighbour has cancer," he said. I thanked him for doing the Terry Fox Run. "We do it with my school," he noted. He was so sincere in his admiration for Terry and so happy to have taken part in the run. It was one of the most heartwarming conversations I had today.
Donations to the Terry Fox Run can still be made via my Terry Fox Run fundraising page. I would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who donated to this cause. To date, the Terry Fox Foundation has raised more than $850 million, more than 20 times Terry's original goal of raising $1 for every Canadian. As the wise boy said today, Terry Fox is a real hero. We all get to be heroes when we donate to cancer research in the name of this amazing Canadian.
For those less familiar with Terry Fox, I reshare this quote from a post I wrote about Heroes:
My greatest hero is Terry Fox. That he ran a marathon (26 miles or 42 kilometres) every day for 143 days to raise money for cancer research is awe-inspiring. That he did so on a prosthetic leg is unbelievable. That he did so through pain and knowing that his cancer would return is the highest act of selflessness.
More information about Terry Fox can be found in other Jenesis posts:
- In Terry Fox, I recounted Terry's extraordinary story based on a piece in CBC's The National honouring the 40th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope.
- In Stories, I reflected on Forever Terry: A Legacy in Letters, an incredible book that includes 40 letters from 40 contributors honouring Terry and his legacy.
- In Terry Fox and Me, I shared my impressions of the children's book of the same name, which tells the story of the deep friendship between Terry and his Marathon of Hope traveling companion, Doug Alward.
- In Terry Fox's challenge, I shared additional excerpts from Forever Terry: A Legacy in Letters on a day when I was recovering from my fifth round of chemotherapy. On that occasion, I was reminded of the inscription on Terry Fox's monument in Thunder Bay, which reads: "To every Canadian, he left us a challenge—a challenge each of us will meet in our own way."
