The annual Terry Fox Run was first held 35 years ago today
The first-ever Terry Fox Run was held on Sept. 13, 1981. The run has since raised $700 million for cancer research.
The Terry Fox Run was first held on this day in 1981.
On Sept. 13, 1981, the inaugural run in support of the great Canadian was held in northern Ontario and has been run annually ever since. This Sunday, the Terry Fox Run will be held across the country. More than 9,000 communities across Canada will welcome runners and walkers for a free-entry, non-timed event.
RELATED: Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope named best moment in B.C. sports history.
“Sept. 13, 1981 – Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope may have come to an end on Sept. 1, 1980, outside of Thunder Bay, but just more than a year later, many more feet joined his epic quest to conquer cancer in the first annual Terry Fox Run,” reads a post from the Terry Fox Foundation today, “Though Fox had succumbed to cancer almost three months prior, 300,000 participants gathered at more than 760 sites across Canada and many others around the world, to walk, run or cycle their way to raising $3.5-million for cancer research.”
One of the early supporters of the run in honour of Terry Fox was the founder of the Four Seasons hotel chain, Isadore Sharp. The businessman housed Fox for free at hotels during the Marathon of Hope and donated $10,000 at the time and pressured other businesses to follow.
The Marathon of Hope was a cross-country run that Fox started in 1980 to raise money for cancer research. Fox had his right leg amputated because of osteosarcoma but continued to run with an artificial leg. Fox ran 5,373 kilometres and made it to Ontario before cancer spread to his lungs. He died on June 28, 1981 at 22.
RELATED: Special Feature: Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope.
This year, the Terry Fox Run will be held for the 36th time. To date, the Terry Fox Foundation, which supports cancer research, has raised $700 million. The runner is considered one of the greatest Canadians of all-time and has schools, highways and streets named in his honour.
Information on this weekend’s non-competitive Terry Fox Run can be found here.
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