“There can be no reason for me to stop,” said the late, great Terry Fox. “No matter what pain I suffer, it is nothing compared to the pain of those who have cancer, of those who endure treatment. 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. I might not make it; if I don’t, the Marathon of Hope better continue.”
When legendary Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist Terry Fox first set out on of his east to west coast journey dubbed the Marathon of Hope in 1980 he taught those across the country and even the world the true meaning of tenaciousness and humility as he stopped at nothing to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Just months after Fox died 44 years ago, the first annual Terry Fox Run started to carry on his legacy and show the world that as long as you are willing to try — anything is possible.
Mark Swannell, who hails from the UK and is an avid runner himself, was inspired by Fox upon learning more about him when he came to Canada, and decided to become the organizer of this annual event three years ago. This year will be his second year holding it at Evans Park. It will take place on Sunday, Sept. 15 at 10 a.m.
Swannell saw 189 people come out to participate in last year’s event at its new location and received much positive feedback on it, from the course to parking availability. Something else that stands out for him was to have the Cowichan Valley Dragon Divas, who are known for putting their best stroke forward for breast cancer, come out to support and arch their paddles up so that all participants can pass under them to begin their walk for Terry.
“It was really great to see everyone come together and the community spirit,” said Swannell. “The Dragon Divas give us a unique start to this event, it’s just great.”
Last year’s event tripled their goal of $4,000, raising more than $12,000 for the Terry Fox Foundation. This year the foundation has assigned them the target of $9,000 and Swannell said they are already halfway there. There will be an online system at the event as well where participants can make a donation when they come to register. Donations can be made up until Sept. 15 at the following link Duncan Terry Fox Run | Terry Fox Run
“I’m hoping we can have a good surge of donations in the final week,” said Swannell.
There will be light refreshments and plenty of water for walkers but Swannell said this year’s main focus is to fine tune the course and make sure it is accessible for everyone.
“One of my future goals is to further promote the event,” said Swannell. “Obviously it is already promoted in schools, and most of them hold their own event. It would be great to see adults who are maybe new to Canada, or those who haven’t taken part since they were in school come out and make it a regular fixture.”
Volunteers will be easy to spot as they will be wearing badges that read: How can I help? If you are asking that question yourself Swannell is still looking for people to assist with marshalling and to let participants know where they can register as well as find washrooms and the refreshments and that sort of thing.
“If people can come out to volunteer next year, I want to build up a bigger team,” said Swannell. “I also need help with promoting the event. Anyone who is good on social media, or can get out in the community to hand out flyers and put up posters and other forms of promotion would be much appreciated because I can’t do it all on my own.”
Participants can choose to partake in the regular course, which Swannell notes is a little hilly in some places, or there will be an alternate, flatter one as well. Each lap is 2 km and walkers can choose to do it up to three times for a total of 6 km.
“I hope this year’s walkers feel like they got out there and did something healthy and good for their well-being and leave feeling that they contributed to a worthy cause,” said Swannell. “I hope they have fun on what will hopefully will be a glorious Sunday morning.”
