Print

E-mail

Text

It may be hard to believe for some, but it's been 28 years since a 20-year-old by the name of Terry Fox began his Marathon of Hope, ultimately creating a lasting legacy that continues to spread.

This Sunday, locally, provincially and nationally, as well as across the world, people will run, walk and inline skate (to name but a few modes of transport) their way along routes of various lengths as part of their contribution to that legacy, done in his name annually. That's not even including the thousands of schools nationwide that get in on the act as well.

Since Fox began with a lofty goal of running across Canada - along the way obtaining a dollar from every Canadian for cancer research - more than $400 million has been raised through the annual runs.

It's easy, as these annual events go, to lose track of just how impressive a legacy this is. It's imperative, however, to build on that legacy, to maintain that momentum.

Cancer is insidiously pervasive. Indeed, it's hard to find someone not touched in some way by the disease in its many forms - be it through a friend or a close relative. At the same time, consider that in the area of cancer treatment, significant progress continues to be made. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, five-year survival rates are up to 62 per cent, a figure that approaches a doubling of that from the 1960s.

There is progress; it's quantifiable.

Sometimes, as a couple of local runs experienced last year, overall turnout actually does decrease from the year immediately prior.

It’s not an immediate cause for concern as long as there’s a general upward trend or at the very least, stability. The fact that there’s four sites in North York alone suggests interest is at a healthy level.

Locally, North Yorkers have four events to choose from in the community. Events are taking place at the Tait McKenzie Complex of York University (Keele Street and Steeles Avenue), Gibson Park (Beecroft and Parkhome streets), Seneca College – Newnham Campus (Finch Avenue, Hwy. 404) and Wilket Creek Park (Leslie Street and Eglinton Avenue East).

It’s ample opportunity to strap on your running shoes in support of those who wage their battles today with the disease, and in memory of those it has claimed.  

For details on the York U. run, call Saba Rafiq at 416-736-2100, ext. 44519; on Gibson Park, call Leslie Shernofsky at 416-221-1159; for Seneca, call Evan Armstrong at 416-491-5050 ext. 2300; and for Wilket Creek, call Jonathan Selman at 416-449-1750.