Style Run #3 – Terry Fox Run in Stanley Park

Today marked the 33rd annual Terry Fox Run with hundreds now being held  all over the country to raise money for cancer research in honor of the legendary Terry Fox. For those not familiar with Terry Fox, he’s one of those characters your parents tell you about, the type you see on TV or read about in books. Born in Manitoba, he was active in sports at a young age and went on to study kinesiology and play university  basketball at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. On November 12, 1976 while driving home he got into an accident which brought pain to his right knee. Months later, the same knee developed osteosarcoma, a form of cancer, for which his leg had to be amputated. While undergoing chemotherapy, Fox found it difficult to watch cancer patients suffer and die and after devoted himself to living a life in a way that would inspire courage in others.

Fox chose to run across Canada in an effort to raise money to cure Cancer a few years on April 12, 1980. After 143 days and 5,373 kilometers he was coughing uncontrollably and asked that he be taken to the hospital. With the cancer having now spread to his lungs he would have run his last kilometer on his Marathon of Hope. Fox died June 28th, 1981 after falling into a coma and now 32 years later there are hundreds of runs in his name around the world.

In the words of Fox,

“Even if I don’t finish, we need others to continue. It’s got to keep going without me.”

Today, we were privileged to witness a continuation of this tradition at Stanley Park in Vancouver where friends, family, pets and co-workers ran in dedication to those who have walked the path of cancer. Thanks also to the Four Seasons Hotel who has supported the Terry Fox Foundation since the Marathon of Hope in 1980.

More photos on our facebook page here: www.facebook.com/stylerun. Like our page, tag yourself and your friends for everyone to see ; )

 

 Need to knows

Terry Fox Foundation is non profit charity organization founded in 1988 dedicated to cancer research. To date, over $600 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry’s name.