45 years after Terry, Darrel Fox makes his own stop in Thunder Bay

THUNDER BAY – The pain was both physical and emotional, said Darrel Fox, as he approached the place where his brother Terry ended his iconic Marathon of Hope in 1980.

“The reality is this is where Terry had to stop his run, so I was concerned about crossing that line and going beyond,” said Fox.

“Even at this ripe old age Terry has taught me that limitations are imposed and I can do anything and that's what I'm trying to do,” he said.

Averaging 220 km a day, Fox and seven other cyclists arrived in Thunder Bay on Monday, day 15 of a gruelling cross-country bicycle trek.

“I also realized that Terry's message to all of us was to continue to keep it going, and so this journey will continue until we get to Saint John's,” he said.

Fox said, reaching the halfway point gave him a sense of relief, as he looks forward to visiting many of the places him and Terry passed through on the East Coast in 1980.

“It's unbelievable how beautiful this country is and I'm able to experience it one more time 45 years later,” he said.

Marking the 45 anniversary of the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope, Fox is travelling on bicycle all from Vancouver with his teammates to honouring his brother's legacy by raising funds for the Terry Fox Foundation in support of life saving cancer research.

“Now we are going in the opposite direction of what Terry ran, and we did that intentionally. We didn't want any questions about us replicating the marathon of hope or finishing Terry's run because you can't replicate what Terry did in 1980,” he said.

The Ride of Hope began in 2015 when Fox, an avid cyclist challenged a small group to ride 350 kilometres to Mount Terry Fox in British Columbia for the Marathon of Hope’s 35th anniversary.

“This adventure and this journey has been about meeting people who have experienced cancer and are alive today because of the investment we have made over the last 45 years in cancer research,” said Fox. “That's what it's all about, adding more hope to the world.”

While the country’s beauty was unbelievable, Fox said the range of weather conditions proved to be a challenge along the way on several days.

“The first few days were incredibly hot, 36, 37 degrees through the mountains. We have hit prairie storms, we have hit headwinds, we have hit a couple of nasty crosswinds as well as biking issues, it happens when you're riding this many kilometres,” said Charlene Eden, cyclist.

Despite the challenges, his teammates described the experience of riding with Fox as a joy.

“It's been an emotional ride,” said Juschka Clarke. “He's so driven towards keeping this legacy alive, I've never seen such strong passion in anyone for something like this ever.”

“He inspires us every single day when we're out there, he will say a quote or he will say it's okay, Terry can do this, we can do this too,” she said.

Besides the inspiration of Terry himself motivating the group to carry on, a support team follows close by, remaining on standby for any possible emergencies.

“We have had such incredible support from our support team that was next level, and I know they've been working hard on making this all come together for over a year,” said Clarke.

Fox said the team is grateful for all of the support, thankful to be in the landmark city and hopeful that they will raise enough funds for the Terry Fox foundation.

The team has been traversing the region since Friday, cycling from Kenora south through Sioux Narrows and along Highway 11 past Emo, Fort Frances and Atikokan. From Thunder Bay they are heading east, keeping south again after Nipigon and continuing along the north shore through Schreiber, Terrace Bay, Marathon and White River.

Those looking to track the location of Fox and his team in real time can visit the team's website.