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Thirty eight years and still going strong: Terry Fox Run gets a nice turnout

Run has raised nearly $1 billion across Canada since its inception

Dozens of Sudburians showed up to the Grace Hartman Amphitheatre Sunday morning to take part in the Terry Fox Run.

The 38th annual event opened up with some high energy Zumba to get the blood pumping and participants made their way to the starting line just before 11 a.m. to take part in runs of 1 km, 4 km, or 10 km.

Co-organizer Francis Summerhill has been involved with the run as a participant and organizer for more than 30 years, and addressed the crowd before the runners hit the starting line.

"You'll all be taking pictures and uploading them to social media, but then I think about Terry Fox in 1980, he had zero likes, zero shares, and no posts, but he had millions of followers," said Summerhill.

"His road was a lonely one despite the people who cheered him on, and he was alone in that physical effort, imagine running a marathon every single day for 142 days. Consider everything he did to promote positive change in our world, and showing us the power of one person to make a difference."

Greater Sudbury Police chief Paul Pedersen was in attendance and out of uniform, taking part in the run.

"When Terry Fox started out his journey his goal was to raise one dollar for every Canadian. At that time there were 26 million Canadians so he wanted to raise $26 million," said Pedersen.

"Thanks to him magnifying this and getting people involved from coast to coast, this run has raised closed to a billion dollars. He's taught us the power of multiplication, the power of paying it forward and the power of working together."

 


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