The Border City's annual Terry Fox Run took place in Bud Miller All Seasons Park this past Sunday and raised just over $9,000 for cancer research. Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
He said nobody was ever going to call him a quitter, and he was correct.
It’s been 42 years since Terry Fox lost his leg to cancer at the age of 18 and decided to run across Canada in 1980 to raise money for cancer research. Since Fox’s Marathon of Hope, the Terry Fox Foundation has raised a total of $850M to date.
Last Sunday morning, roughly 100 Border City residents participated in the annual local Terry Fox Run at Bud Miller All Seasons Park, continuing that momentum that Fox started all those years ago.
“Over the years, thanks to your dedication and your fundraising, a number of strives are being made when it comes to the fight against cancer,” event organizer Heather Klages said to the crowd during opening remarks.
“We couldn’t do it without you, so we wanted to thank you all for being a part of this, and thank you for joining us in person this year, we’re very excited we can host this run in person again, and we’re absolutely blessed with the beautiful weather we have for the run.”
Klages wrapped up her remarks with a special thanks to Culligan Water for donating bottles of water for the run, the Tent Guys for providing tables and chairs for the event, Tim Hortons for donating coffee and Timbits, as well as the New Lloydminster Nissan for donating a free oil change to one lucky participant.
After hosting virtual fundraising runs for the last couple of years, Klages said she wasn’t sure what this year’s turnout and fundraising would look like, but by the time the run started, she was pleasantly surprised.
“The fundraising has been incredible,” she said.
“We weren’t sure what to expect this year so we set, what I realize now was a conservative goal, of raising $4,000 for our run, but we’re almost at $9,000 right now. The Lloydminster firefighters here today played a huge role in that fundraising, as did local realtor Louis de Kock, but we’re also very excited to have Jarrod Russell here. Jarrod does the Great Cycle Challenge every August to raise funds to fight kids’ cancer, so it’s really special he joined us for this run as well.”
Although not in attendance on the day of the run, Terry’s older brother, Fred, recently stopped in area schools to help students learn more about who Terry was a person and why keeping his Marathon of Hope going is so important.
“It was incredible to have Fred Fox in town,” said Klages. “He tours across the country and stops in schools in different provinces, and Lloyd was fortunate enough to have him stop here this year. I think he made an incredible impact in the schools because he got a great response from them and students and teachers were really lucky to have him there.
“Students also got to learn a lot more about Terry, and that was the really neat part because students got to hear what it was like growing up with Terry.”
Mayor Gerald Aalbers showed his support with strong words of encouragement to all participants
“I think Terry Fox means an awful lot to many of us, but the younger generation may not have had the pleasure of watching Terry on TV when he was crossing Canada,” he said.
“The inspiration and commitment he made combined with the strength he showed while battling cancer, brings back memories for me. I also appreciate Fred Fox, Terry’s brother, spending time in our community this week at the schools, helping to explain what’s going on today and why today is happening. It speaks to what Terry did so long ago.”
With another Fox run in the books, Klages is already looking forward to next year’s event to see if the community can top this year’s total.
“The people in our community are amazing,” she said.
“Either cancer has touched them personally, they know someone who’s been touched by it, or they know a cure needs to be found. They take on this cause and make it very important to them, and when they go out there and raise funds it all adds up and makes a huge difference.”
