Carleton welcomed Gov. Gen. David Johnston and Darrell Fox, Terry Fox’s brother, on Sept. 16 for Ottawa’s 32nd annual Terry Fox Run.
Hundreds of runners, walkers, bikers and children in strollers gathered together on the frigid, sunny morning at Carleton where Johnston and Fox spoke in the opening ceremony and took part in the 10-kilometre run to raise money for cancer research.
Johnston, who became an official patron of the Terry Fox Foundation this year according to the foundation’s website, had everyone laughing and clapping as he brought up his two grandchildren and shared stories about the different Terry Fox Runs he and his family had completed.
“This day means a lot to our family, we’ve been involved for 32 years,” he said. Fox spoke of his experiences during the Marathon of Hope and shared passages from his brother’s journal.
“I was able to witness a nation embrace my brother and join him in his cause of eradicating cancer,” he said. “Every day was special, every day was unique, every day built on the day before.”
The Terry Fox Run and Foundation were formed in honour of the late Fox, who decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research in his Marathon of Hope. Fox had his leg amputated because of cancer in 1977 and ran from St. John’s, N.L. to Thunder Bay, Ont. in 1980 before his deteriorating health forced him to stop.
Many Carleton students were involved as both volunteers and participants, and shared why they got involved in the Terry Fox Run.
“It is such an important cause, cancer impacts all of us,” fourth-year human rights and women’s and gender studies student Niamh O’Shea said. She said she volunteered at this year’s run for her uncle who died from cancer.
“The Terry Fox Run really brings awareness to the cause and how Terry was so young,” said Amisha Agarwal, a Carleton alumna and University of Ottawa masters student.
“It just shows that students can come together to put money towards something that’s so prevalent in Canada and all over the world,” Agarwal said.
Fox was 18 when he was diagnosed with bone cancer and, despite not finishing the Marathon of Hope, he inspired a nation.
In 2010 the Terry Fox Foundation announced that they had raised $500 million for cancer research.
Carleton has kept Terry’s legacy going, just as he said he wanted.
“Even if I don’t finish, we need others to continue. It’s got to keep going without me,” Fox said in 1980.
