Annual Terry Fox Run has an “exceptional year”
A group of 75 people took part in the Terry Fox Run in Bath on Sept. 20, raising more than $6,100 for cancer research through on-site and online donations.
Gerald Sullivan, organizer with the Bath Lions Club, called it an “exceptional year.”
The event brought together volunteers, community leaders and residents, continuing a tradition that has been part of the community for decades.
For Polly Moorcraft, the Terry Fox Run has become a family tradition stretching back years.
“This is my 40th year doing this. I used to come with mother, grandma and aunt. We started in ’85,” Moorcraft said. “My whole family did it. My daughter is 39 years in. She was only a couple of weeks old when she started.”
Carleton-Victoria MLA Margaret Johnson and her husband were also in attendance.
“We always support the Terry Fox walk,” said Johnson. “Our family has been heavily impacted by cancer, and the Fox Foundation is the one which puts the greatest percentage of funds raised directly into research.”
“The Lions Club has put their hearts and souls into this event for 36 years,” she added, “and we are pleased to join them with our small part.”
Sullivan said the annual fundraiser’s impact reaches beyond those who take part in Bath, saying, “this definitely affects the life of people. We receive a lot from this.”
Sullivan pointed to a family friend in Scotland who was also taking part in a Terry Fox event that morning as an example of how far the Marathon of Hope continues to reach.
The upper St. John River Valley also has a direct connection to Fox’s 1980 Marathon of Hope. In his June 6, 1980, journal entry, Fox described passing Hartland, following Route 105 along the east side of the St. John River and returning to Bristol for dinner, autographs and a speech.
“Today I had tremendous support. Everyone honked and waved,” Fox wrote.
The River Valley Sun also caught up with Terry’s brother, Darrell Fox, last summer as he returned to the region as part of the cross-Canada Terry Fox Ride of Hope. Fox and seven other cyclists stopped in Florenceville-Bristol, where they met old friends and nearly 60 people gathered to welcome them before the group continued on to the Hartland Covered Bridge.
Fox’s Marathon of Hope ended near Thunder Bay, Ont., on Sept. 1, 1980, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres, when cancer was discovered in his lungs. He died June 28, 1981, at 22.
More than four decades later, the Bath event continues to bring people together in support of the cause.
