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Thousands to take part in Terry Fox Run
Thousands to take part in Terry Fox Run
First event without Terry's mother Betty
Lyle Fisher/Tanya Fletcher Sep 18, 2011 07:23:11 AM
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PORT COQUITLAM (NEWS1130) - The 31st annual Terry Fox Run will be an especially emotional one this year. This is the first time Terry's father Rolly will be at the event without his wife by his side. "I know Betty would've just loved it. She was looking forward to it."
Betty died back in June, 30 years to the month that her son Terry died. The memories of his son Terry running his Marathon of Hope are still fresh in his mind. "When he was running he was forever waving at people, cars were always honking."
When Rolly was asked about his favourite part of the run, he jokingly answered the finish line. "Seriously though, meeting the people. That was my favourite part, meeting the people."
Hundreds of thousands of Canadians will honour Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope today.
"He used the distance across Canada as sort of a poetic way to bond us all together," says world-renowned Vancouver artist and author, Douglas Coupland, who was chosen to design the newly unveiled Terry Fox memorial outside BC Place.
Coupland adds Terry did something no one else has. "He put a very fresh and happy face on subjects like cancer, which you didn't exactly talk about back in 1980. He sort of brought them out of the closet forever and now we can talk about them openly."
He explains Terry also changed the way we look at the human body and illness, through his attitude and work.
Honouring Betty
"I think a lot of run sites are choosing to pay tribute to Betty and it will certainly be a very different event this year," says Donna White, provincial director of the Terry Fox Foundation.
"I know last year her and Rolly were in Nova Scotia and a lot of times they do come out and participate at the local Terry Fox Run in Port Coquitlam, as well as the Chilliwack run. So yeah, I think her presence will definitely be missed by many people this year.
The very first Terry Fox Run raised $300,000, fast-forward three decades and, "We look at the runs today and the Foundation in Terry's name, across Canada and internationally as well when we raised over $550 million. That's an amazing legacy and I don't think anybody thought it would get this big," she adds.
Over 100 Terry Fox runs are taking place today across the province and local runs are happening at Stanley Park, UBC, Swanguard Stadium and Port Coquitlam |
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發表於 2011-9-18 06:43
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