Sunday 20 September 2020

Liberty Village Terry Fox Run/Walk, Liberty Village Park, Toronto, ON

This is my third year as a volunteer/organizer of the Liberty Village Terry Fox Run (it's the fifth year for the Liberty Village Terry Fox Run).  Because the Terry Fox Runs were virtual this year, most of it was happening on social media for us, which is what I did ... I shared pictures from the past two runs plus the Terry Fox Foundation was very supportive in providing graphics and videos, etc.  Plus we put lots of posters up around the neighbourhood.

Terry Fox (1958 – 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian and cancer research activist.  In 1980, he began the Marathon of Hope, a cross-country run to raise money for cancer research.  He hoped to raise one dollar from each of Canada's 24 million people.  He began in St. John's, Newfoundland, in April and ran the equivalent of a full marathon every day. After 143 days and 5,373km/3,339 miles, he was forced to end his run outside Thunder Bay, ON, when the cancer spread to his lungs. His hopes of overcoming the disease and completing his marathon ended when he died nine months later.

The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is now the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research.  Almost $800 million has been raised in his name.

This year I raised $650!  Because it was virtual this year, there was no gathering in Liberty Village Park as in past years.  Gord and I walked to Liberty Village Park where the run usually starts and ends.


If you're wondering about the red shirts, they signify "Terry's Team" ... people who have or have had cancer (both Gord and I have).

While we were there, Team Barb, who were running in honour of Barb who passed away in October 2019. Barb had spoken at past Liberty Village Terry Fox Runs,


Also Shumaila, a Liberty Village Terry Fox Run volunteer, arrived with her nephew, Aiden, at the end of their walk.


When we left Liberty Village Park, Gord and I headed south to Coronation Park.


They we went around Trillium Park ... I love this park!


We headed to Garrison Crossing to walk over the bridges.

At our 5km mark

Such a nice day and such a worthy cause!

1 comment:

Teresa said...

Well done! What lovely weather.