By Tina Brajic
CALEDONIA—The fog lifted just in time to showcase a beautiful morning along the Grand River as 30 runners, walkers, and cyclists of all ages excitedly gathered at Lower LaFortune Park to participate in Caledonia’s 33rd annual Terry Fox Run.
Event Co-ordinator Brenda Inkes is hopeful they can “match or surpass our fundraising efforts from last year of $6,000. Caledonia raised just over $12,000 with the combined efforts of the town’s run event and the neighbouring schools’ Toonies for Terry events.”
As of press time $3,500 had been raised by the run on Sunday, September 15, 2024 with more donations likely coming in throughout the week. Inkes noted “some of the regular participants couldn’t make it here this year and went to neighbouring runs,” meaning their donations will be marked for events in Waterdown, Hamilton, and St Catharines.
Inkes also mentioned that those who can’t make it to a run can participate virtually from any location, with some of the participants away camping and completing the run from their campsite. Inkes personally completed a run once while she was in Scotland a few years ago.
The eager volunteers helped to ensure the event ran smoothly, from registration to water stations, doing warm-up exercises and cheering on the participants.
Inkes noted the event is a “family affair” as many of the 10 volunteers were her family members, including her children, Hannah, Lynaya, and Geordan, and her bonus son, Christiaan van Dam. The family’s involvement with the event stemmed from Inke’s bonus father, and volunteer, Kent Campbell, who started fundraising with a team from work in the early 2000s to honour one of his best friends who succumbed to cancer.
In her opening remarks Inkes thanked everyone for their support and for continuing Fox’s journey, and shared that the Terry Fox Foundation’s inspirational theme for this year’s Terry Fox Run was “no matter what.” Incredibly, “Fox ran for 143 days and 5,373 km – almost a marathon a day!”
It’s been over four decades since the first Terry Fox Run was held in September 1981 – the year Fox died at the age of 22. Prior to that, Fox’s Marathon of Hope was his daring dream of running across Canada to raise funds for cancer research.
He started his incredible journey after his own battle with osteogenic sarcoma, which left him with an artificial limb after an amputation of his right leg. The suffering he had witnessed in the cancer wards motivated him to raise funds to find a cure. Fox started his cross-Canada journey on April 12, 1980 in St. John’s, Newfoundland by the Atlantic Ocean, and was to end at the Pacific Ocean in British Columbia. On September 1, 1980, Fox had to stop his Marathon of Hope outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario as the cancer had returned and reached his lungs.
Inkes notes that “not only is the Terry Fox Run quintessentially Canadian, but it is one of the purest forms of charity. As an organized event, there are no minimum requirements, no donation is too small, and participants may organize, volunteer, run, walk, cycle, trek, or donate. The donations provide funding for the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI). The TFRI’s mandate is ‘pan-Canadian’ upon selecting and funding cancer scientists, researchers, and encourages ‘outside the box’ projects to beat cancer.”
To date, the foundation has raised over $900 million.
Many of those in attendance in Caledonia participated in honour and remembrance of those whose lives have been touched by cancer. This year also saw Oliver Ferraro, a first-time runner from Caledonia, who is only six years old. His mother Adrianna Rodriguez shared the story of how on a recent trip to Ottawa, Oliver “saw a statue of Terry Fox and became obsessed. He sat down and sketched the statue and then everything became all about Terry Fox.” His enthusiasm boiled over and inspired his dad Sebastian Ferraro to also join him. Oliver’s goal was “to beat his dad.” Goal accomplished: he did lead his dad into the finish line.
Even though Fox’s journey came to an end, the hope, determination, and inspiration he instilled in a nation and the world runs deep. No matter what, his legacy of hope lives on and keeps his spirit alive through future generations.
For more information and to donate, visit terryfox.org.
