The 45th annual Terry Fox Run is taking place in Prince George this weekend.
This will be the third time around putting on the event for Organizer Sylvia Masich, who took over in 2023 after finding out no one was putting the event on.
“That first year we saw about 100 participants, and then last year we saw just over 300 participants,” she said.
“This year, it would be really cool to triple that to 900, but even if we see 500, 600 people out there, that would be incredible.”
Masich said they’re hoping to make it bigger and better this year.
“It is the 45th year anniversary of the Marathon of Hope,” she said.
“We’re hoping to have some games, some more refreshments for people just to make it more of a bigger event feel.”
Prince George holds a special place in the story of Terry Fox.
Fox ran in the 1979 Prince George to Boston Marathon, the year before he embarked on the Marathon of Hope across Canada.
“He told his mom that he was training for the Vancouver Sun Run and this was the only road race during the month of September in the province,” Masich said.
“His best friend Doug had family up here, so Terry, Doug and his brother Darryl all drove up to take part in the PG to Boston, and what most people didn’t realize is that Terry had the thought in the back of his mind that he’s going to run across Canada for cancer research, and it was after running, not the 8.5 mile race, the 17 mile race here in Prince George, that Terry knew he was ready to embark on his Marathon of Hope in the spring.”
The run is set for Sunday at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park.
More information and registration can be found here.
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