The Terry Fox Foundation is shifting what had been an annual event the last two years to honour the Port Coquitlam hero’s training route through the Tri-Cities to the five-year anniversaries of his Marathon of Hope.
The first Terry Fox Training Run, which took participants along the 10-mile (16-km) route from PoCo through Coquitlam to Port Moody’s April Road and back, was held to mark the 35th anniversary of Fox’s cross-Canada trek in 2015 and again in 2016.
But organizers decided not to go ahead with another Training Run this year due to the cost of traffic control and other expenses.
“It’s a huge bill,” said Donna White, B.C./Yukon provincial director for the Terry Fox Foundation. “We’d be holding an event to raise money just to pay a bill, and that’s not what we do.”
Costs for the Training Run, including installing the route markers in 2015, traffic control, equipment and staff support, have typically been split based on population between the three cities, which have provided funding and in-kind support.
An email that recently went out to past Training Run participants from event co-ordinator Kirsten Fox said they would be changing the format from an annual event to one that’s held in anniversary years.
“We realized that Terry’s Training Run is no easy route and we think that saving it for these celebrations will be a way to keep it special and continue to benefit our fundraising efforts in support of cancer research,” Fox stated.
Britt Andersen, executive director of the foundation, said with the “phenomenal support” provided for the Terry Fox Run — four are held in the Tri-Cities — as well as the school runs in September, the foundation wanted to focus more on fundraising opportunities outside of large-scale events.
The foundation plans to hold the Training Run on five-year anniversaries, similar to the run over the Confederation Bridge in the Maritimes, with the next one in 2020 for the 40th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope.
