Sunshine greeted hundreds of participants that gathered at Spirit Square in Pitt Meadows for the 36th annual Terry Fox Run on Sunday.
“It was a spectacular success,” said organizer Ali Wakeling who had anticipated a torrential downpour.
“The weather makes a big difference for our event. Of course, weather never made a difference to Terry. I mean he ran through snowy days in Newfoundland in April,” said Wakeling.
Over 400 runners, walkers and cyclists took part in the event, with 326 participants officially registered.
Today alone $13840.76 in donations were collected.
“We still have 550 pledge sheets to come in,” said Wakeling, in addition to $5,000 and counting in online donations and money from the school runs taking place at the end of the month.
What Wakeling found most powerful was seeing the participating cancer survivors who were sporting red t-shirts, especially Maple Ridge resident Analyn Purcell, who shared the story of her own struggle with cancer with the captive audience.
“Knowing that cancer research is really making a difference makes me so happy. To see those three kids of hers, three beautiful children, and we know that they are there because cancer research saved her,” Wakeling said.
“I know that we had an extra five years with my husband thanks to cancer research. Thanks to that my youngest kid really knew his dad and can remember him. So I personally appreciate those stories,” she added.
Wakeling takes heart that cancer is no longer the death sentence it once was, with more and more survivors living long and meaningful lives due to cancer research.
That is one of the reasons she says she supports the Terry Fox Foundation in particular, because 84 cents out of every dollar goes towards research.
“And research is really what makes the difference.”
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