SANDRA M STANWAY
Brooks Bulletin
Over the past 39 years Brooks and area residents have raised $190,000 for cancer research and it’s hoped that the 40th annual event on Sept. 15 will break the $200,000 mark so let’s double what was raised in 2023.
Between the September school runs and the run itself, the community raised $4,752.
This year the Sept. 15 event will return to Lake Stafford where participants can run, walk or ride around the lake.
The day will be followed by a BBQ.
Sheila Laverty of the Brooks Kinettes which has organized the event for the past eight years said T-shirts are available at The Brooks Bulletin and they will be available at the event.
She said other plans are in the works for the day but urged people to participate.
“Come and enjoy the day and raise money for cancer research,” she said.
The Terry Fox Run has become a Canadian tradition with events held in more than 650 communities across the county and in multiple other locations around the world.
At the age of 19 in March 1977, Terry Fox lost his leg after he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, though he continued to run using an artificial leg.
Following extensive training, on April 12, 1980, Terry dipped his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean to start his Marathon of Hope.
He ran 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles) or a marathon a day until he was forced to stop near Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Fox was short of breath and had chest pains. The following day he announced that he could not continue. The cancer returned to his lungs.
In September 1980, Fox was invested in a special ceremony as a Companion of the Order of Canada and he received other recognitions including from the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia who named him to the Order of the Dogwood, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame commissioned a permanent exhibit, and Fox was named the winner of the Lou Marsh Award for 1980 as the nation’s top athlete. He was also named Canada’s 1980 Newsmaker of the Year.
Fox died on June 28, 1981 a month away from his 22nd birthday.
The first Terry Fox Run was held in September 1981. The first Brooks run was held in 1984.
Since the marathon of hope $800 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry’s name.
