For the first time since 2019, five of Muskoka’s six Terry Fox Runs are back in person.
On Sept. 18, the event returns to its respective locations in Huntsville, Bracebridge, Windermere, Bala, and MacTier, while the Gravenhurst run is staying virtual.
Sharon Stahls, organizer of the Huntsville run, says this year’s campaign is “I’m Not a Quitter.”
“In 1980, when Terry Fox was on his Marathon of Hope, he said, and I quote, ‘no one is going to call me a quitter’,” says Stahls. “So the foundation picked up on that [quote]. And how perfect is that, coming out of a pandemic?”
According to Stahls, all funds raised go towards cancer research through the Terry Fox Foundation. She notes that the foundation recently awarded the Huntsville run a community milestone award, having raised $1.3-million dollars over 34 years of fundraising.
School-based Terry Fox Runs are also running across Muskoka on Sept. 23. Stahls says Huntsville’s Eva Johnston is the face of school runs across the country, having survived a leukemia diagnosis at the age of three. Eva, now nine-years-old, has gone four years without needing treatment.
Stahls says stories like Eva’s make it all the more important that cancer research gets the money it needs.
“[It’s] to alleviate suffering, and to give cancer patients hope, families and their loved ones hope, and to help find a cure,” says Stahls. “We all need to strive to make the world a better place. And Terry’s dream was to have a world without cancer in it.”
A flag raising to kick off the campaign will be held in Huntsville on Sept. 12 at 10:30 a.m., where Stahls says shirts and other goods will be available for purchase.
You can register for, donate to, or find your local run at the links above, or by searching the Terry Fox Foundation’s website.
“Bring your phones, bring your water bottles, and bring your spirit, your enthusiasm,” says Stahls. “We all know the spirit of Terry Fox has a home in our community.”