By Pepper Parr
July 15th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Earlier this week, a group of people gathered at the Terry Fox monument in Spencer Smith Park.
It was the evening of July 13th – the anniversary of the day that Terry ran through Burlington in 1980.
Members of the Cedar Springs gym who have been doing the Terry Fox Run for a Cure for Cancer for the past six years decided they would not let the official cancellation of the run stop them – they are doing the run virtually. Far left in terry shirt Craig Gardner next Daniel Zai down low Kristy Smith behind Daniel in white top Suzanne Sawell beside Suzanne in black top (hiding behind monument) Nancy Demerling Right side of monument Mary Cook-Hyslop down low behind her in red top Sheilagh O’Drsicoll to the right of Sheilagh Colleen Clairmont beside Colleen Beth Buttenham and beside Beth Lisa Drewry Missing from the picture Kevin Bita and Graham Oakley.
In 1981 Burlington citizens decided they would hold an annual run to raise funds for the Terry Fox Foundation to Cure Cancer. They have raised more than $2.2 million.
The runners and there are thousands of them tend to be both corporate teams and small groups.
One such group, a team from Cedar Springs gym has been doing the Terry Fox run for six years and have raised over $17K
With the annual run cancelled due to COVID19, the team went virtual with everyone on the team of ten walking, running, hiking starting June 1 and keeping track of their km’s with a goal of reaching 3582 km’s by July 13.
That was the number of km’s Terry Fox had run when he past the spot of the Terry Fox Marker in Burlington on July 13, 1980.
The team was able to surpass that number and this year so far have raised $1,575.
The team is looking for other teams to come forward with unique virtual challenges.
Craig Gardner is the Run coordinator this year. He is using social media and every ear he can bend to encourage people not to give up just because we are in the middle of a pandemic.
“Terry Fox did his best” said Gardner “we can do the same”. He added that it does mean being creative and looking for way to get the exercise you know you need and turn it into a fundraiser.
The Burlington Terry Fox organization has published a series of articles about the people who made the run it has become during the past 40 years.
