Submitted/Steve Preece
The Terry Fox Run is coming up on Sept. 14.
In Okotoks, the run will be held at Sheep River Park at 10 a.m. with registrations starting at 9.
There are 1.5k and 5k routes, which participants are invited to navigate at their own pace.
"It's very much participative. It's not competitive," said the Okotoks run's organizer, Steve Preece. "Although Terry was very competitive in spirit and for himself, this run has always been participative. The main focus of the run is to raise money for cancer research. That's what Terry ran across the country for."
After the run at 11 a.m., a barbecue will be held at the park, sponsored by the local Fountain Tire and Save on Foods.
This is Preece's second year organizing the local Terry Fox Run, which he feels is made easier by the unwavering support from the community.
"I was door-knocking this year to put up some signs on people's homes," he said. "This one lady, she was so sweet. She comes to the door, and she sees me with this sign under my arm, and she says, 'Oh yeah, you can put that up.' I said, 'Well, you haven't even seen it. How do you know what it says?' She says, 'Well, it's Terry Fox. You can put it up.' That's typical of a reaction to Terry Fox."
A $30,000 fundraising goal has been set, inspired by Terry Fox's original goal of raising one dollar for every Canadian.
"One thing that we're doing this year slightly differently is we're really encouraging groups to come to the run. It's wonderful that individuals step forward, but if you grab your family members, neighbours, friends from work, it's more fun, and then there are more people to raise funds."
The link to donate and sign up can be found on the Terry Fox Foundation website.
The High River run is scheduled for the same day and time, at George Lane Park.