2020 Terry Fox Run Goes Virtual

Ever since Terry Fox undertook his Marathon of Hope in 1980, the spirit of that endeavour lives on in the annual Terry Fox Runs held in over 9,000 communities across the country. But this year, the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing changes to those events, just as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Fox’s efforts to raise money for cancer treatment and research.

This year’s Terry Fox Run, being held on September

20, will be virtual, says Don Morrison, the chair of the Thunder Bay event, which is a community service project of the Lakehead Rotary Club. Morrison has been organizing the local Terry Fox Runs for nearly 30 years. “We can’t come out to the run site like we’ve done in the past, where we have an official opening ceremonies and the gun goes off and people walk, run, or bicycle around the [5 kilometre] route around Boulevard Lake,” he says. “We’re just asking people, on the date, to go out for a walk, run, bike; likewise, try to raise money.”

The registration and fundraising are being done completely online this year. Those fundraising efforts can take the form of a personal donation, and/or taking pledges. As in years past, Morrison says there’s no set fee or fundraising goal to hit in order to take part. Morrison adds that the Terry Fox Run and work by area school boards to teach students about Fox have been successful in keeping his memory and goals alive. Those kinds of efforts, he says, are paying dividends. “My six-and-a-half year-old grandson could tell you more about Terry Fox than I probably can,” Morrison says, adding that, overall, Terry’s memory and the runs established in his honour still have a large impact today, with over $800 million raised.

“It’s immeasurable,” he says, pointing to a young man who has been participating in the local events for the past several years who was diagnosed with the same type of cancer Fox had, also starting in his leg. “[He’s] fit as a fiddle now,” Morrison says. “He’s healthy as can be … they’ve developed ways to correct, cure, the kind of cancer that Terry had. That’s amazing.”

Registration for this year’s virtual Terry Fox Run can be done at terryfox.org/run