Port Moody is ready to run.
Or walk. Or roll.
The city’s first Terry Fox Run since before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 is being held Sunday, Sept. 15, and one of its organizers says enthusiasm for the event is strong.
Donations are already approaching $7,000 — and organizations are stepping up to offer help on run day.
“People are really happy to hear the run is back in Port Moody,” said Mark Pettie of the annual fundraiser for cancer research that was held virtually the past four years because of public health restrictions and last year’s closure of the Shoreline Trail for reconstruction work.
Pettie said volunteers from Port Moody Rotary will be on hand to help with registrations and donations, Port Moody police will cycle the 5 km course to ensure participants’ safety and Port Moody Fire Rescue will help with first aid as well as manning one of three water stations.
“We’re getting good support from the community,” Pettie said, adding Terry Fox had a unique connection with Port Moody.
The young athlete with a prosthetic leg to replace the one he lost to bone cancer was a regular sight along Ioco and Alderside roads to the old Ioco townsite as he trained for his Marathon of Hope that would see him run a marathon a day across the breadth of Canada.
And while Fox’s effort was ultimately cut short just past the halfway mark in Thunder Bay, Ont., when the cancer returned in his lungs, his legacy endures.
Since that fateful day — Sept. 1, 1980 — annual runs held in hundreds of communities across Canada and around the world have raised more than $850 million for cancer research.
“You look at the impact this guy had, and a lot of it started in Port Moody,” Pettie said.
Sunday’s run begins at 10 a.m. at Rocky Point Park and follows the Shoreline Trail around the eastern end of Burrard Inlet to Old Orchard Park. The full course is 10 km return, although participants can turn around earlier to complete distances of two or five kilometres.
They also don’t have to run, said Pettie.
People are welcome to walk, push a stroller, ride a bike or scooter or even rollerblade.
It’s all about bringing the community together again, Pettie said.
“It’s not a race — just show up and honour the legacy of Terry Fox.”
You can register for Sunday’s run online in advance, or on-site beginning at 8:30 a.m.
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