About 250 people participated in the 44th annual Terry Fox Run held Sunday at Gateway Chrisitan School in Red Deer.
Organizers say that as of Sunday night, the event has raised $29,120, with that number expected to grow over the coming days. This year's total is the second-highest amount raised in the history of the Red Deer Terry Fox Run. The highest amount raised was $35,863 back in 2005.
Individuals and teams walked, ran, and biked along the route, which snaked along the south trails of the Red Deer River towards McKenzie Trails. The route had several options this year including 1 km, 5 km, or 10 km. Many of the participants wore custom-made shirts or name tags indicating a special someone whom they were running for. Terry Fox Run T-shirts were also being sold at the event. Like last year, this year's T-shirt was being promoted by Ryan Reynolds, who is a big supporter of the Terry Fox Run.
Door prizes were donated by local businesses and there was also a silent auction to help raise funds.
The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings volleyball team was also on hand to show their support and helped to lead a short warm-up before the walk started.
Loretta Winia has been involved in the Terry Fox Run since the early 90's, helping to organize many of the events over that time. She still volunteers but has hung up her organizing shoes for the time being.
Winia believes deeply in the cause.
"My nephew had the same cancer as Terry Fox and passed away when he was 18 years old," she said. "That's what drew me here. It never ends. It's always someone that you know that's suffering from cancer and we just have to continue to do the research and hopefully someday there will be a cure."
Winia says the great thing about the Terry Fox Run is that it is run entirely by volunteers. They don't have a budget to work from and everything relies entirely on donations and support from the community. This year the Red Deer event had 25 people helping out.
"It's really gratifying," she commented. "You see lots of my generation who saw Terry Fox run, who have that relationship, however, it's even more exciting when you see young people that never experienced that in living colour, that they are coming and supporting the cause as well. It's really amazing to me when you think about how the whole thing has happened internationally even, the support that it's gained over all these years because so many of the generations coming up never experienced him in his lifetime."
With cancer impacting so many people, Winia says that they'll often see a team form around a person who has been impacted to help raise money.
Technology has also helped the cause, allowing people to donate easily on their phones or computers.
"In this economy, it's tough slugging sometimes but we've always had good support. We really appreciate that," remarked Winia.
This year's guest speaker was Layla Billey Thordarson, a 31-year-old breast cancer survivor.
Thordarson is now cancer-free but mentioned that she has lost many friends and family members to cancer including her mom. Thordarson is the fourth person in her family to be affected by breast cancer.
"It's been a hard challenge for the last two years and I'm grateful to have another opportunity to be grateful and to live and to keep going and to never stop," she said.
Thordarson noted that Terry Fox is one of her heroes, having participated in the Terry Fox Run since she was in elementary school. She has helped to raise thousands of dollars over the years.
"It's a big turnout usually every year. It's harder now with the economy. It's usually a good experience to still fundraise for a lot of people to save lives. It obviously saved my life. If we can do more and end cancer, that's my goal."
Terry Fox was diagnosed with bone cancer when he was 18 years old, resulting in the amputation of his right leg. As a result, he began a cross-country run in April of 1980 called the Marathon of Hope to raise money for cancer research. The Marathon of Hope was halted just outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario in September of 1980 after it was discovered that the cancer had spread to Terry's lungs. Terry passed away on June 28, 1981. The first Terry Fox Run was held in September of 1981 in more than 760 sites in Canada and around the world to raise money for cancer research.
The Red Deer Terry Fox Run has raised approximately $600,000 over its 41-year history. The Terry Fox Foundation has raised over $900 million to support the fight against cancer.
