About 200 local participants took the ‘one day your way’ motto to heart in Sunday’s virtual Terry Fox Run in Newmarket, raising more than $45,000 and counting for the foundation that bears the iconic athlete’s name.
Instead of running, walking or cycling together as in past years before the COVID pandemic restricted public gatherings, the community devised their own unique ways to participate and raise funds for cancer research.
“With COVID and everything, we didn’t think we’d reach that high in donations overall, so we’re really happy with that,” said Muriel Lee, who is on the Newmarket Terry Fox event organizing committee.
Take residents Anne Fraser Bursey and Sharon Wolff, for example. The neighbours came up with the idea to create a hopscotch with 143 squares to honour the number of days Terry Fox completed on his 143-day cross-Canada Marathon of Hope in 1980.
Newmarket’s Terry Fox Run organizers paid a visit to the Crossland Kangaroos team as they encouraged neighbours and passersby to hop through the hopscotch for Terry Fox. The team collected more than $300 in donations.
“I thought the hopscotch was fantastic and it showed that people were engaged and they had a bit of fun on their Sunday walk,” said Lee.
“What made the difference was the emphasis on the ‘one day your way’, people realized they didn’t have to run or walk, they could get people engaged, like the hopscotch,” she added. “You could put a $1 in the donation bucket and keep going.”
This year’s event was markedly different with individuals and teams participating where they were, including residents who went on a hike during a girls’ weekend in Ontario’s Burnt River.
Many participants posted photos and videos of their activities on the Terry Fox Run Newmarket Facebook page.
Participants also posted their ‘I am running for ...” virtual stickers to commemorate all those who participated in every way and for those who have passed on or are fighting for one more day.
Lee’s organizing team also visited the Bogart Pond seniors’ apartment complex, where residents organized a walk around the property led by a bagpiper.
“It was a lot of fun, we actually had so much fun as a team because we weren’t as stressed,” Lee said with a laugh.
In a social media message to the community on event day Sept. 20, organizer Laurie Osborne said, “Well, no 5 a.m. wake-up to head to the Ray Twinney Recreation Complex to meet hundreds of volunteers for site set-up for the annual Terry Fox Run. I will miss seeing all the amazing #TerryFoxers who come out year after year to #TryLikeTerry and finish what he started, one day to end all cancers”.
