Terry Fox Run volunteer can count the reasons

Finish it. That’s the theme of Sunday’s Terry Fox Run.

Brandon’s Heather Stewart says there are countless reasons why she volunteers and raises money, and she sees those reasons in the faces of her family all the time.

“My mom had breast cancer, my dad skin cancer and my brother is a survivor after his diagnosis of colon cancer. They are alive because of the research that came from what Terry Fox started. I want that for everyone,” Stewart said Monday.

Sunday’s run starts at 10 a.m. in the courtyard at Brandon University, with registration at 9 a.m. People can choose to walk, run, skate, roll or cycle on any of the four different lengths of the course — one, two, five or 10 kilometres.

Brandon’s run had humble beginnings, said Stewart, who has been helping to co-ordinate the local event since 2016. That year, they had 42 participants and raised $2,195.

Fast-forward to 2024 when they tripled the number of people who signed up and collected almost $20,000 in donations.

“If you are a cancer survivor and register for the run, you receive a red Terry Fox T-shirt,” Stewart said.

“That indicates that you are a cancer survivor or going through treatment, so you’re part of Terry’s team,” she said.

“That can draw a tear because when you look out and you see all those red shirts, you know that’s why you’re committed to running and committed to donating as much as you can.”

Stewart and volunteers are set up this week outside the Canadian Tire store on 18th Street, taking donations and registrations and making sure people are entered in the draw for prize packs donated by local businesses.

The display caught Kaileen Lavallee’s eye Monday as she was heading into the store. A few minutes later, she was registered.

“My dad has cancer,” Lavallee said, “and I want to be someone who makes a difference. This is the first time I’ve thought about doing the Terry Fox Run, and now I want to bring my eight-year-old son so he can ride his bike beside me.”

This will be the 45th annual Terry Fox Run.

Fox was born in Winnipeg in 1958 and at eight years old moved with his family to British Columbia. In 1977, at age 18, Fox was diagnosed with a form of bone cancer that resulted in his right leg being amputated above the knee.

Two years later, he completed a marathon in B.C. and in 1980, set out to run across Canada to raise millions of dollars for cancer research. He named his journey the Marathon of Hope. It began April 12, 1980, when he dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean.

After running 5,374 kilometres in 143 days from St. John’s, N.L., to Thunder Bay, Ont., Fox had to stop his Marathon of Hope on Sept. 1, when cancer spread to his lungs.

Fox died June 28, 1981 at the age of 22, but the money continued to pour in, said Carissa Robb, the Terry Fox Foundation’s director of community development.

“He may have stopped, but he ended up raising $22 million for his Marathon of Hope,” said Robb.

“And that was his goal — one dollar for every person. That’s what Terry wanted,” she said.

“He didn’t just want one person to finish it if he couldn’t. Terry wanted all of Canada to finish it until there was an end to cancer. He wanted all of us to pick it up.”

The Terry Fox Foundation has set a cross-Canada fundraising goal of $1 billion for this year’s run.

“Currently, we are at $950 million — that’s what we’ve raised so far,” Robb said.

The funds raised benefit progressive cancer research, the foundation says.

Improvements include more than an 80 per cent, five-year survival rate for some cancers, including breast, prostate, thyroid, testicular and Hodgkin lymphoma.

Dr. Sachin Katyal, the director of the Manitoba Tumour Bank at CancerCare Manitoba and part of the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network, says the network has brought together researchers from across the Prairies and Canada to tackle cancers.

The network, a collaboration of the Terry Fox Foundation and the Terry Fox Research Institute, “has driven the formation of new research teams, consortia and programs to harness current scientific innovations and Made-in-Canada ingenuity to develop personalized treatments for Canadians with cancer,” Katyal stated in a foundation news release.

Contributions to the foundation and the number of participants in the annual run never seem to wane, Robb said.

“I’ve noticed the momentum this year,” she said.

“We’re seeing much more interest and involvement with so many more events. Everybody wants to be involved because cancer affects everyone. Everybody wants to help finish it.”

Stewart agreed.

“Today, we have so many people running who were not even born when Terry did his Marathon of Hope,” she said.

“And the fact that the younger generation is invested in his dream and understand the commitment and the dedication that we have is wonderful.”

On Saturday morning and afternoon, the Safeway store in the Corral Centre will be selling hotdogs, chips and a drink for $5 with all the proceeds going to the Terry Fox Foundation.

For more information about signing up for or donating to the Terry Fox Run, call 1-888-836-9786.

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

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