Terry Fox Run

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The Terry Fox Run in Ontario, Canada (2006)

The Terry Fox Run is an annual non-competitive charity event held in numerous regions around the world in commemoration of Canadian cancer activist Terry Fox, and his Marathon of Hope, and to raise money for cancer research.

The event was founded in 1981 by Isadore Sharp, who contacted Terry in-hospital by telegram and expressed his wishes to hold an annual run in Terry's name to raise funds for cancer research. The event is held every year on the second Sunday following Labour Day. Since its inception, it has raised via the 'Terry Fox Foundation' over $340 million dollars (CAD); Upper Canada College, in Toronto, Ontario, is the site of the largest run, and has also raised the most money in the world since 2000.[1] The run itself is informal which means that the distance often varies, usually between 5 and 15 kilometres; participation is considered to be more important than completing the set distance. There are also runs set up by schools of every level, often with shorter distances than the "official" ones.

Unlike other major fund raising events, the Terry Fox Run has no corporate sponsorship. This is in accordance with Terry Fox's original wishes of not seeking fame or fortune from his endeavour. During his cross-Canada run, he turned down every endorsement he was offered (including from major multinationals such as McDonald's), as he felt that it would detract from his goal of creating public awareness. The Terry Fox Runs have no advertisements on any race related materials (such as t-shirts, banners, etc).

Terry Fox was born on July 28,1958, in Winnipeg,Manitoba. Terry would grow into a determined boy, who even as a toddler showed the persistence with which he would face life's challenges. He always said that Terry would never give up on any thing. Terry was a hard-working student who took pride in showing a good report card to his parents. In 1976 he graduated from high school with A's and one B. Once when he was a teenager terry wrote a note to his mom and said that he is going to run across Canada. Then in November of 1976, Terry began having pain in his right knee. He tried to ignore it and continued to play basketball, but by March the pain was unbearable. His father drove Terry to the hospital where Terry had X-rays and a bone scan. With his family around him, he was told the results of the tests. He had bone cancer. His leg would have to be amputated as soon as possible. In an instant, Terry's life was changed forever. Six days later, his leg was amputated and within a few incredible weeks he was learning to walk wearing a temporary prosthesis. On August 30,1979, Terry headed to northern B.C. with some of his friends to compete in the Prince George to Boston Marathon, a 17-mile race. He finished with a time of three hours and nine minutes, only ten minutes behind the last two-legged runner.

Contents

[edit] International runs

The Terry Fox Run in Italy (2007)

North America

  • Canada - First run: September 13, 1981 at 760 run sites across Canada
  • Cuba - First run: 1998. 2005 at over 3,600 run sites across the country, totalling 1.9 million Cubans. 2006 reached highest level of approximately 2.6 million participants. 17 March 2007 10th Anniversary run at 4652 sites, totalling 2.267 million participants.
  • United States

South America

Venezuela

Europe

Middle East

Asia Pacific

Africa

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Aster, Andrea; Current Times, UCC goes the distance for Terry; December 2005
  2. ^ http://www.vjesnik.hr/html/2004/09/27/Clanak.asp?r=zag&c=2 (Croatian)
  3. ^ tvn.pl
  4. ^ Portugal :: Terry Fox Run
  5. ^ Terry Fox Run Kuala Lumpur

[edit] External links

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