Image Credit: Sydney Chisholm / CFJC Today
MARATHON OF HOPE

Terry Fox Run returns to Kamloops Sunday morning

Sep 13, 2024 | 12:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Terry Fox Run is returning to Kamloops in an official capacity this Sunday, after a brief hiatus.

This will be the 44th year of the nationwide run. It began in 1980 with Terry Fox using his Marathon of Hope to raise money for research to improve diagnosis, treatment and outcomes for all types of cancer. The run has gained a loyal following in the decades since.

“The very first Terry Fox run 44 years ago, my mum was being treated for cancer and told us to get our butts out there so we were in that one,” says local run co-organizer Sue Steenson. “And then every Terry Fox run I’ve [joined] in my life. And then I ended up with cancer in my 40s, and the treatment from the research is the reason that I’m here now — and I got to raise my kids to adulthood.”

This will be the return of an in-person run event for Kamloops, with a new organizing team at the helm.

“Bringing it back is really important,” said Steenson. “I’ve taught it in school to all of my classes as a teacher and made sure they were involved. But the community event is big because it brings back that spirit of Terry Fox and the Marathon of Hope. The whole message is hope and it (the run) brings back it brings back hope. That’s what we want.”

Registration can be done online ahead of time at terryfox.org, or in person at Riverside Park on Sunday starting at 9:00 a.m., with the event starting at 9:30 a.m.