“The night before my amputation, my former basketball coach brought me a magazine with an article on an amputee who ran in the New York Marathon. It was then I decided to meet this new challenge head-on and not only overcome my disability, but conquer it in such a way that I could never look back and say it disabled me.” This is an excerpt from Terry Fox’s letter requesting support for his 1980 Marathon of Hope.
He started in St. John’s Newfoundland and ran 3,389 miles, almost a marathon a day for 143 days, but was forced to stop his journey on September 1, 1980. He had hoped to raise 1 million dollars.
Sunday, September 20 marks the 40th running of the Terry Fox Run. And even a pandemic is not stopping organizers. In his letter to participants, Jon Hurst, Chair of the Acton Terry Fox Run Committee, says “The reality is that cancer does not stop or move over for the pandemic we are in the midst of, and the research doctors and scientists rely on continuous funding for their on-going work.”
(Photo: Jon Hurst at 2019 Terry Fox Run in Acton)
Hurst urges everyone to “get up Sunday morning, lace up your shoes and head out the door, but instead of driving to Acton High School, you can now run, walk, jog, bike, wheel, ride, hop, skip, jump, whatever, at a location of your own choosing, safely.”
And if you can’t participate but want to sponsor a runner go to www.terryfox.org, scroll down and click on "sponsor a participant".
Hurst continues “The Acton Terry Fox Run Committee is so thankful for your continuous past support and participation, particularly your efforts last year in helping us raise over $21,000, bringing our 39 year total to over $863,000 raised here in Acton for cancer research.”
Terry Fox is quoted on the organization’s website as saying “I’ve said to people before that, I’m going to do my very best to make it, I’m not going to give up. But I might not make it, if I don’t, the Marathon of Hope better continue.” In April 2020 The Terry Fox Foundation announced that over $800 million had been raised in Terry’s name.
Like the infamous John Lennon lyrics “They say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one”, Terry Fox was a dreamer. That dream has built a legacy, which we can all participate in by signing up, donating or cheering on participants this Sunday.
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