Terry Fox Run in St. Catharines
September 14, 2014
This morning, for the first time in my new home city, I participated in the annual Terry Fox Run.
I was one of the early birds.
Sponsor tents.
The registration desk.
As those of you who know me would expect, I added the name of the late Carli Ward to the list of dedications. Long before her cancer diagnosis, Carli made the Terry Fox Run a habit and I’ve since continued the tradition in her memory.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that, unlike what happens in Winnipeg, the ceremonies were kept rather understated.
Local volunteers.
This speaker was from Café Amoré, one of the sponsors.
Dawn Dodge, one of my councillors and the deputy mayor, read a prepared statement on behalf of the city. She should have finished it with the line, “This has been a recording.”
Another of the speakers, this one from Brock University.
The warmup.
At the starting line. I was impressed that they thought enough to stagger the departure times. In order to avoid the unruly free-for-all that normally takes place in Winnipeg, the cyclists went first, followed by the rollerbladers, runners and walkers. As they explained, it makes sense to have the faster participants leave ahead of the slower ones.
A scene along the route. Again, I was impressed that they had police blocking traffic. In Winnipeg, there is no traffic control and participants have to be on the lookout for passing vehicles.
There were people cheering the participants all along the route. It was a very nice touch that is unsurprisingly absent in Winnipeg.
Once again, cheers greeted participants at the finish line. It was another welcome reminder that I no longer live in the SPRM.
I heard runners who passed me boast about their times and the pace they were able to keep, but the Terry Fox Run is one event where the times are not important. What is important is that the run Terry was not able to finish continues year after year in city after city to raise funds and awareness for cancer research. There have been so many advances in detection and treatment, but the battle against cancer is far from over. That struggle that touches nearly every one of us is the reason so many dedicated volunteers work so hard to put the run together and why so many of us set aside time to be part of it.
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