Third in a series leading up to the 37th Terry Fox Run on Sunday….
For many families, Christmas is a joyful time when relatives gather and share good food and good times.
For the Quilty and Allen families, their big annual get-together is in mid-September on the day of the Terry Fox Run.
Their tradition goes back 37 years when grandmother Sylvia Quilty — a generous woman who gave to many charities over the years, said her grandson Curtis Allen — wanted to help the Port Coquitlam hero complete his dream of raising $1 from every Canadian to beat cancer.
Allen said Quilty inspired her family to keep his dream alive.
Each year, they circle the third Sunday in September on their calendars and, on that day, rise at 7:30 a.m. to drive from Coquitlam to Vancouver to take part in the Stanley Park event in Vancouver.
“I can honestly say that not even once did my kids ever complain about having to get up on that sleep-in day,” said Colleen Quilty (Sylvia’s daughter and Curtis’ mom).
They register, buy T-shirts and write the name of the person for whom they’re running on that day. Colleen Quilty writes “Terry Fox” on the memory wall; for Allen, it’s “Hilda Ireland,” his grandmother’s neighbour, who died from cancer.
“We want to show people suffering from this terrible disease that they’re not alone,” Allen said, noting both grandparents on his father's side are cancer survivors. “Everyone knows someone who has had it so it’s something close to our hearts.”
Colleen Quilty said the family tends to bump into the same volunteers at the Stanley Park run, many of whom now have their children behind the tables to help with registration and T-shirt sales.
“They always remember my mom and us. I’m sure they remember lots of people and that is what makes it so special.”
During the run, the family completes the 3-, 6- or 10-km routes. Over the years, her four kids — Curtis, Travis, Ashley and Sara — have been carried in a Snugli or pushed in a stroller. When they were old enough, they walked, ran, inline skated or cycled the course. Once, when they were younger, they even rode in a mini motorized Jeep, Colleen Quilty said.
A few years back, Sylvia Quilty’s husband, John, got a push from his daughter in his wheelchair — a challenge given more than half of the Stanley Park run is on trails around Lost Lagoon.
But afterward — still in their Terry Fox Run T-shirts and laden with ribbons — they relax and spend the day at English Bay with their dogs.
Curtis Allen said it’s the perfect day. “Just like Christmas dinner with the family, you don’t miss the Terry Fox Run. It’s a celebration.”
Colleen Quilty said there have been plenty of times when the weather hasn't cooperated. Some mornings have been dark and gloomy — with the wind so strong that their umbrellas turned inside out — while others have been blistering hot.
Sara Allen, who has taken part in Terry Fox Runs for more than 30 years, said they remember how Fox battled the extreme climate and lace up their runners no matter what.
“Rain or shine — and there was a lot of rain — we were there and ready to walk or run, just as Terry would have been,” she said. “Terry had a dream and that was to live in a world that was cancer-free. His hope and positive attitude led him through his 5,373 km of determination.”
She added, “Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope is not only raising funds for cancer research. It is also bringing communities and families all over the world together each year.”
Curtis Allen, who has travelled to St. Johns, N.L., with Sylvia Quilty and his brother to visit the Terry Fox Monument at Mile Zero (where Fox dipped his artificial leg to launch his Marathon of Hope in April 1980), said he’s now passing the tradition to his girlfriend of five years, a native of Brazil.
His words of hope can also be heard on a video that’s part of the national Terry Fox touring exhibit, currently showing at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria. He was interviewed, of course, after a Terry Fox Run in Stanley Park — the place where Fox was supposed to conclude his Marathon of Hope.
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TRI-CITY TERRY FOX RUNS ON SEPT. 17
• Port Coquitlam: 10 a.m., Hyde Creek recreation centre (1379 Laurier St.)
• Coquitlam: 10 a.m., Mundy Park field house (629 Hillcrest St.)
• Port Moody: 10 a.m., Rocky Point Park (2800 Murray St.)
• Anmore: 1 p.m., Spirit Park (2697 Sunnyside Rd.)
