The Becottes were dressed in their finest penguin attire at this year’s annual Terry Fox Run in memory of Donald Gray, a long-time run participant who recently passed away from Alzheimer’s. Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
Dear Terry: Thank you for inspiring so many people from around the world to keep your marathon of hope going year after year in the fight to end cancer … that was the mindset this past Sunday at Bud Miller All Seasons Park during the annual Terry Fox Run.
This year’s run raised approximately $11K with final numbers still being tallied.
Registered participants were also up by a total of 25 runners.
One participant, Betty Evans, who is pictured above with her family, the Becottes, was seen sporting her best penguin attire in memory of her nephew, Donald Gray.
“Don was 88-years-old when he did his last Terry Fox. He had run for 42 consecutive years because Terry inspired him and he thought it was such a worth-while cause,” said Evans.
“This year, in July, we lost him, he had Alzheimer’s and passed away, so we’re doing this in memory of Don this year.
“I’ve also had lots of family members affected by cancer,” she added, explaining she herself is a breast-cancer survivor since 2002.
“This is a very heartwarming day for me as my husband passed away from a brain tumor, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and niece have all succumbed to cancer.”
The group’s penguin theme attire was an homage to Don, who’s nicknamed happened to be “Penguin.”
The Lloydminster Firefighter’s Association once again showed its support with a handful of members, including association president, Brad Martin.
“Studies have found a direct correlation between the chemical exposures firefighters experienced on the job, and the increased risk of cancer,” he said in regard to association support.
“Our firefighters are out here supporting again, as we have in prior years, and cancer is something that affects absolutely everybody, but with firefighters having that increased risk of exposure, it’s something we’re proud to support.
“We’re hoping to have some fun with the family and the kids; spouses are all out to show their support and have some fun.”
One of the run’s dedicated organizers, Heather Klages, who shares the thankless work with Jim McArdle, was pleased with the turnout as well as early fund tallies.
“It’s absolutely amazing to see so many people come together, and a lot of them are here to support someone in their family or someone they know, so many of them have a very personal reason for taking part in the Terry Fox Run,” explained Klages.
“It’s (also) wonderful to see so many people come together and be inspired by Terry Fox and have that desire to want to help out.”
A major national-wide focus of this year’s run “Dear Terry” letters, inspired by the thousands of letters Canadians wrote Fox while he was on his journey.
“People would write letters and postcards, and they would write about how his journey was inspiring them,” said Klages.
“They went through their archives this year and brought them back, so they’re asking people to go back to when you wrote letters and ask ‘what would you say to Terry Fox if he was doing his marathon right now?’ Or, ‘how has he inspired you.’”
Postcards were available on Sunday for local participants to share their stories.
Lloydminster has held a Terry Fox Run since 1984, with the exception of 2007-’09. Locally, $144,167.43 was raised for the Terry Fox Foundation from 1984-2016; $4,257 was raised in 2021, and the 2022 run saw a total of $10,091.25.
