There were plenty of feet hitting the pavement on Sunday, but runners weren’t out of breath after participating in two running events in the city, says an organizer of the Terry Fox run.
The 30th annual Terry Fox run, a tribute to Fox's Marathon for Hope, had residents sprint, walk or jog around Boulevard Lake at 2 p.m. instead of its traditional morning start of 10 a.m. The event raises money for further cancer research and more than 500 people had registered by the afternoon start time.
The change in time came after the Thunder Bay Miles With the Giant marathon conflicted with the Terry Fox run traditional morning start.
Don Morrison, chairperson of the Terry Fox Run with the Lakehead Rotary Club, said he was pleased about the new start time as it was far warmer in the afternoon but couldn’t say if the changed start time would continue on to next year’s run.
Morrison said the marathon didn’t impact the run with participants running at both events -- himself included.
"A lot of people here did the city marathon or part of it," Morrison said. "I think the two running events worked well together to raise the buzz about running and I think it was a good thing."
Kelly Henry, 27, from Brantford, Ont. ran the Giant marathon in the morning doing about 5 km and then attended the Terry Fox run later in the day. She said it was important to come to the Terry Fox run to show support for cancer research.
An avid skier and a regular participant in the run, Henry completed the 5km loop around Boulevard Lake just over 24 minutes and said it was a tough and hard but glad to have done it.
"I wanted to support the cause its something I’ve done for a number of years so may as well keep going," Henry said. "After 30 years, I think its important to keep it going because all the funds are going towards cancer research and there are so many people that are affected by it. Whether you know someone or now (who has cancer) its going to affect you in someway."
Not all participants ran the full 5km as Henry did but chose to walk or do the shorter 2km route.
Angela Woodhouse-Wild, 63, worn her Terry Fox run T-shirt from the 25th anniversary and prepared her grandchild, Georgia Penny, 2, for the long walk around the lake. Her granddaughter first joined her grandmother when she was two months old and has since strolled along with her for the last two years.
Woodhouse-Wild had participated in the run for about 20 years. She used to run more often but has since stopped because of her knees. However, that didn’t stop her from wanting to join in the run again this year because finding a cure for cancer is an important goal, she said.
"I’ve run this for a few years and it’s a little emotional because we have a lot of friends we’ve lost to cancer," Woodhouse-Wild said as tears began to form. "Terry Fox is a really brave guy and he did some really amazing things for Canada and I think it’s important that we support the run."
The Terry Foundation has raised more than $340 million in support of cancer research since 1981 and Morrison said they raised about $15,000 last year and hoped to reach the same amount this year.
"Terry Fox started 30 years ago and I’m sure he never thought this would last as long as it did," he said. "It just seems to get bigger and bigger every year."
