Wilmot Terry Fox Run takes on special meaning for longtime participant Randy Thomson
By Galen Simmons
For New Hamburg lawyer and two-time cancer survivor Randy Thomson, the Terry Fox Run has always been personal.
This year, it will be even more so.
Thomson is dedicating his participation in the Sept. 20 Wilmot and Surrounding Townships Terry Fox Run to the memory of his longtime friend and fellow cancer survivor Nancy Brodrecht, who was killed in a motor-vehicle collision earlier this year.
The two had known each other since the mid-1980s through Trinity Lutheran Church in New Hamburg and, beginning in 2022, regularly walked the Terry Fox Run together.
During those walks, Thomson said, they would have conversations they rarely had at any other time.
“Each year we would do the run together and each year we would, on that day, have that intimate conversation about our cancer journey,” he said. “On the other 364 days of the year, we wouldn’t mention it.”
Thomson was diagnosed with kidney cancer in late 2019 and had his right kidney removed in April 2020, during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After recovering, he began looking for a way to give back and decided to support the Terry Fox Foundation and its cancer-research efforts.
Because of pandemic restrictions, Thomson completed his first two runs alone. In 2022, when participants were once again able to gather in person, he walked with Brodrecht.
That first walk together began what became an annual tradition, with the exception of last year when Thomson completed the run in Halifax while Brodrecht participated locally.
“She was like my cancer muse, and I was hers,” Thomson said. “We both understood what we were going through.”
The pair also took pride in how much money they could raise. Thomson said he brought in just under $8,000 last year while Brodrecht raised more than $3,000.
This year, Thomson has set a $10,000 goal. His fundraising page had raised $6,270 at the time information was provided for this story.
After Brodrecht’s death, he decided immediately that this year’s effort would be for her.
“It’s going to be an awfully hard run this year for me,” Thomson said. “I’m going to walk by myself. … I don’t know; maybe I’ll walk with someone, but it won’t be Nancy.”
He has also been reaching out to people who previously supported Brodrecht’s fundraising and plans to personally match donations he identifies as coming from her former supporters.
“Hopefully, we’ll raise lots of money,” he said. “This time I’ll raise it, but with Nancy’s help.”
The Wilmot and Surrounding Townships Terry Fox Run will take place Sept. 20 at the Wilmot Recreation Complex, 1291 Nafziger Rd., Baden. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., with the site open from 9-11 a.m. and the run beginning at 9 a.m.
Participants can choose one-, two- or five-kilometre routes, and bicycles, rollerblades and wheelchairs are welcome. The event also welcomes participants from Woolwich, Wellesley and North Dumfries townships.
Those wishing to support Thomson can donate through his personal fundraising page at run.terryfox.ca/page/randythomsonterryfoxrun2026.
General event information, registration and donations can be found at run.terryfox.ca/129734.
For Thomson, this year’s walk is about cancer research, but it is also about carrying forward the memory of a friend who spent years doing the same.
“She was a tremendously giving person of her time, her talents and her money,” he said. “We are grieving her every day.”
Comments