Had he survived, would have been 64 this summer.
He died from cancer in 1981 at 22 years old.
Since his death, Canadians have carried on his Marathon of Hope, his fundraiser for cancer research that aims to find a cure.
is set for Sunday, Sept. 18, at 10 a.m; at the municipal Brennan Park Campground.
This will be a fully in-person event.
The location is a change from previous years when the race started in the Brennen Park Rec Centre parking lot.
The move makes it safer for participants and drivers, organizers said.
The goal for 2022 is to build on the $14,000 raised by 250 participants at the hybrid online/socially distanced event in 2021.
As always, folks can run, walk, ride, or wheel for a cure.
Dogs are welcome.
“This year, with everyone able to get back together in one place, we are hoping to raise $20,000,” said event co-organizer Amber Pascual in a news release. “Our best year, pre-pandemic, was $18,000, and we’re confident that now that we can go at this full-pull, ߣÄÌÉçÇøcan easily come out and beat that.”
With funds raised across Canada this year, the is expanding its scope to support two unique initiatives.
The unites the country’s cancer hospitals and research centres to create the “Team Canada” of Cancer Research.
"Empowering members to work together to make precision medicine for cancer a reality," reads the release.
The provides the infrastructure to allow the sharing of large amounts of health data generated through the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network.
“We all know someone — friends and families — who has been affected by this terrible disease,” Pascual added. “But we also know the power of the community here in Squamish. I’m excited to see that community out in person — united, having fun, and fighting together to end this terrible disease. Terry Fox didn’t give up, and neither will we.”
For fellow race organizer Judy Pace, this fundraiser hits close to home.
Her 11-year-old nephew had osteosarcoma — the same cancer Fox had — and eventually succumbed to the disease in 2009, she told The ߣÄÌÉçÇø.
Pace recently got to meet virtually with Fox’s brother Fred and even with the nurse who was Fox’s oncology nurse throughout his treatment.
Hearing stories about the young man participants run for brings into sharp clarity the real person behind the icon he has become.
“She was telling about how he could be really feisty, but then he could be really warm and caring. You got a complete inside view of what had happened with him. It was pretty amazing,” Pace said.
For Pace, in addition to raising money for vital cancer research, the community’s support for the race keeps her coming back to help organize it.
“In the last couple of years, it’s been pouring rain, and we’ve had so many people come out... I’ve goosebumps literally right now because every time you’re putting [the race] on, you think, ‘No one is going to come, no one is going to come,’ but in Squamish, the support that they have for this race is absolutely unbelievable,” she said, adding that local businesses like , and are helping make the race happen this year.
or register starting at 9 a.m. on the day of the race.