Terry Fox Run: Join the fight against cancer
- Chris Abbott
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Tillsonburg 2024 Terry Fox Run's organizing committee included from left Bo Healey, Sue Healey, Shelley Weiler and Jason Weiler. (File Photo).
Chris Abbott
Grant Haven Media
Finish it.
The Terry Fox Foundation says ‘Terry Fox started a marathon against cancer’ in 1980.
‘Together we can finish it.’
In Tillsonburg, the annual Terry Fox Run is Sunday, Sept. 14. It starts and finishes at the Tillsonburg Soccer Park near the pavilion. Opening ceremonies are at 10 a.m., with Denise Haley singing O Canada, followed by the walking, running, cycling or rolling one of three routes – 3 km, 5 km, or the new 10 km trip.
“It’s going to be a really good year,” said Tillsonburg Terry Fox coordinator Shelley Imbeault.
Before Tillsonburg’s 37th annual run, volunteers will offer a warm-up workout. There will be facepainting for the children by Girl Guides and Pathfinders. And there are new photo backdrops for photo/selfie opportunities, donated by the Tillsonburg Soccer Club.
“We will have Stunt, a Bare Naked Ladies cover band performing this year before and after the Run,” said Imbeault. “They are so great.”
People can pre-register online, or register on-site on the 14th.
“We do not take Visa or MasterCard on-site because we don’t have a strong enough internet/cell signal connection there,” Imbeault noted. “So if people would like to make a donation via Visa or MasterCard (https://run.terryfox.ca/92790), we encourage people to please do it online.”
Cash donations will be accepted on-site.
For more information, email tillsonburgterryfoxrun@gmail.com or visit terryfox.org.
Last year 165 Terry Fox participants in the main Tillsonburg run raising a total of $38,000 for the Terry Fox Foundation, a new record. School children also participated in their own Terry Fox Runs.
“I think a huge part of it, we had way more teams than we ever had in the past. So we’re actually kind of focusing on that a little bit, using our natural competitiveness that’s within all of us. We have fun competitive little kind of things.”
Individuals and small groups are also welcome to join.
Contributing to the success, said Imbeault, is how much fun people have at the Terry Fox Run.
“It’s a great day out… and it’s absolutely free to participate. Obviously, we love it if people fundraise, but if you can’t, you can’t… but still come out because we have a lot of fun out there. I think that, more than anything, we’re making a mark that way. People are understanding it’s a fun day.”
It’s a good time, she said, and “It’s good to remember what we are fighting for. It’s good to remember that we’re fighting for life. That’s what this is all about.”
The Terry Fox Run raises much needed funds for cancer research.
This year’s fundraising Terry Fox T-shirts are black, with a prominent ‘Finish It’ on the front. There is a photo of Terry Fox on the back.
“It’s been a big seller this year, supplies are low,” Imbeault noted.
Celebrating its 45th year nationally, Darrell Fox, Terry’s younger brother, participated in a small cross-country cycling fundraiser from Vancouver to Newfoundland. Darrell led the 7,000 km, 32-days of ride that finished July 10, raising more than $1.1 million for the Terry Fox Foundation.
Terry, with one leg amputated due to cancer, had attempted a cross-Canada run in 1980, starting in Newfoundland. Averaging a marathon a day, it ended 143 days later. In September that year near Thunder Bay – his cancer had returned and spread to his lungs. He had raised $1.7 million, but donations continued to come in. He died in 1981 and soon after the first Terry Fox Run was organized.
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