'I've never missed it and never will': Port Coquitlam turns out for hometown hero Terry Fox despite rain
The run, along with others across the country, marks 38 years since the original Marathon of Hope
Hundreds of people braved the rain and cold Sunday morning in Port Coquitlam to celebrate the legacy of hometown hero Terry Fox.
The annual charity run is one of the hundreds of Terry Fox Runs across Canada which take place every September to raise money for cancer research.
In April 1980, Fox, a 21-year-old cancer survivor and amputee, decided to run across Canada in order to raise money for a cure for cancer research. Fox ran 5,373 kilometres before he was forced to cut his tour short after his cancer returned.
Fox returned home to B.C. and died the following year.
Fox wanted to raise $1 from every Canadian, which was a goal of $23 million in 1980. Since then, his foundation has raised hundreds of millions of dollars toward cancer research, according to Dave Teixeria, who organized the event.
Teixeria said the conditions of Sunday's run in Port Coquitlam — pouring rain — is a reminder of what Terry faced.
"Terry Fox ran a marathon a day for 143 days and rain, hail, sleet, snow was all part of that. This actually gives us a little bit more of a taste of what Terry had to go through 38 years ago," Teixeria said.
Holding umbrellas and dressed in rain gear, participants of all ages marked the run for different reasons.
Andrea Hunter said she had been coming since she was six-years-old. Her father was Bob McGill, Fox's basketball coach at Port Coquitlam's Mary Hill Junior High School.
"I've never missed it and never will," Hunter said, adding her kids are part of the tradition now.
"We do it because we've had many people in our lives who have had cancer. We come here because it's important to celebrate, to think, and to keep the dream alive."
Krista McGrath said she was inspired to come to the run because she learned about Fox and his marathon at school. While the rain made it a little tough, she said it was important to be there.
"[It makes me think] how hard it must have been for him to run as far as he did on one leg," McGrath said. "I really have no right to complain about the rain."
