Marathon of Hope: 30 Years Later

If you are Canadian, then you most likely know the powerful significance behind words like Marathon of Hope and Terry Fox.

Terry Fox was a young man from Port Coquitlam, B.C. who was diagnosed with cancer at age 18 and as a result lost his right leg. Angered by how little money was being channeled into cancer research, Terry, an athlete all his life, decided to do something to change this.

30 Years ago, on April 12, 1980, Terry Fox dipped his foot into the Atlantic Ocean off of St. John's Newfoundland and began running across Canada to his intended finish line in Victoria, B.C.

Averaging about 30 miles a day (keep in mind a marathon is just over 26 miles), Terry ran over 5000 miles before he found out that the cancer had returned and had spread to his lungs.

Terry Fox died on June 28th, 1981.

His run ended after 143 days, just outside of Thunder Bay on September 2, 1980.

Every September since, Canadians have taken it upon themselves to honour Terry Fox's spirit, determination, and his goal of raising money and awareness for cancer research. The Terry Fox run has also become an international event, involving over a million people in 60 countries.

Since Terry began his historic run, over $500 million dollars has been raised in his name worldwide.

I remember participating in the Terry Fox run every year at my high school. It was an annual event that I took part in but never really fully understood how significant an event it was.

That most schools give students the afternoon off to be able to participate is phenomenal.

This year is the 30th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope and this time I am proud and honoured to be a part of it.

Terry Fox was an inspirational human being who, at only 21 years old, became a hero and a legend. Though he died before I was born, his story reminds me that the human spirit is a force to be reckoned with.

Please donate if you can.

You can sponsor me here or sign up to find out where there is a run near you!

(Donations are also tax deductable so give give give if you can!)

For any of you living in or close to Toronto I'm doing the UCC locations so if you're interested sign up and we can run together!

It's a 10 km loop but it's not important whether or not you cross the finish line, rather that you came to support an amazing cause.

30th Anniversary of the Marathon of Hope, Sunday September 19th, 2010.