By Staff
July 14th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
July 13th, 1980
On July 13, 1980 Terry Fox ran through Burlington along Lakeshore Road; by that time he had run a marathon a day for 93 days. Burlington has had a run/walk every year since on the second Sunday of September but when the pandemic hit in 2020, the Terry Fox event had to go virtual.
The Cedar Springs team, who have been doing the event for the last 8 years, thought it would be great to recognize when Terry Fox ran through Burlington so they gave themselves a month to get to July 13 and the 3582 kms Terry had achieved by the time he hit Burlington.
The pandemic was scary and Terry was an inspiration for us all to not be discouraged when times are tough and to keep going. “I am not a Quitter” rang true for this team!
On June 13, 2020 they started to track their kms and blew past the number in a month. Again, the pandemic continued into the next year with no large gatherings so in June 2021 they decided on 2 goals since they had spinners/cyclists who joined the team and they exceeded 3582KMs walking/running & 3582KMs cycling.
The Cedar Springs Team – on the road every year for the past eight years.
It has now become a tradition and provides the encouragement and kick off for the Burlington Terry Fox season to inspire others to get their teams together. “In this last week running up to July 13 we had giddy up as we were falling short on our goals but the team rose to the occasion and finished super strong with 3810kms Run/Walk and 3949Kms in bike/spin” said Nancy Demerling the team captain. “Very proud of how everyone added an extra bunch of kms when we needed to hit our goal. The Cedar Springs Team (Health and Racquet Club) has raised a total of $25,000+ over the years and we’re not done yet.”
Craig Gardner, Co-Chair of Burlington Terry Fox announced that there will be an actual physical event at Spencer Smith Park on September 18, 2022. “We encourage everyone to come out, run, cheer, walk 1km, 5km or 10km. Bring your friends, your families and celebrate those who are fighting cancer and remember those we have lost. Be confident that the money you raise for the Terry Fox Foundation and family are true to Terry’s wishes and are passionate by ensuring the dollars raised go to leading physicians who are doing breakthrough cancer research.”
