This Sunday, September 16, Bowen Islanders have a chance to participate in an event that takes place in different locations in Canada as well as world-wide: the Terry Fox Run.
Shelagh MacKinnon, who coordinates the local event, said, "The run has 9,000 different locations world wide and has raised over $600 million since Terry's Marathon of Hope in 1980 and donates 84 cents of every dollar towards finding a cure. Everywhere there are Canadians, there are Terry Fox Runs. He is a big Canadian hero."
This year marks the 32nd annual Terry Fox Run for Cancer Research and MacKinnon explained that everyone can participate because no minimum entry fee or pledge is required.
"The money goes to support innovative cancer research," she said. "There is a big push to shorten the time from the lab to the bedside."
"Cancer has touched nearly everyone. So many people have cancer but there are also many beautiful survivor stories. We really need more research," MacKinnon said, adding that her life has also been affected as her oldest sister Joyce and her daughter Anna have been diagnosed with cancer.
In the past 12 years, Bowen Island participants have raised over $10,000 and MacKinnon estimates that about 50 people come out locally for the occasion. "I want to encourage people to come and join," MacKinnon said. "If they can't come out on Sunday, they can donate online."
The registration for the run starts at the United Church, also called the little red church, at 11 a.m. and the run begins at 11:30.
Participants run eight kilometers around Killarney Lake but MacKinnon said that some choose a smaller loop as there is no fixed requirement.
"Just showing up is a great gift," she said. "And afterwards, we have a barbecue at the church yard."
For more information about the run or for signing up, please see the the Terry Fox Foundation website at www.terryfox.org or call 1-888-836-9786.
