Grey skies and rain didn’t deter the people of Squamish from coming out to take part in the 30th annual Terry Fox Run on Sunday (Sept. 19).
The run attracted 110 participants, which Terry Fox Run co-ordinator and Squamish firefighter Jordan Lawrence said was the highest total he can remember.
“This has been a great turnout for lousy weather,” he said, adding that high profile promotion of the event helped. “We usually average between 60 to 100 runners so to have 110 people show up this year is amazing.”
The run helped raise over $2,000 for cancer research through donations, both in person and online.
Lawrence said the longevity and success of the Terry Fox Run over its 30-year history is simple: “He’s a worldwide phenomenon.”
“Terry Fox is huge and this whole race has become so associated with cancer research.”
Nicole Babuin was one of the 110 runners taking part in this year’s event. Pushing a stroller carrying her two children, Phoenix and Nyla, she said it was important to her to participate in an event that’s helping to fight cancer.
“The reason why we took part this year is to help support cancer research,” she said. “We also like to get out and support local events, so this was a perfect event for us.”
Babuin, an on-call teacher, said she thinks the run is still going strong after 30 years thanks in part to the education system throughout Canada, which teaches kids about Fox.
“It’s really promoted well in the schools,” she said. “It’s such a great thing to be a part of and I think the schools help get kids involved with the race from a young age.”
The event kicked off shortly after 9 a.m. with Mischell Poitras of Zen Fit leading a group stretch just prior to the run.
The route of the Terry Fox Run in Squamish saw participants begin at the Brennan Park parking lot and proceed south on the Squamish Corridor trail along Loggers Lane all the way to the Squamish Adventure Centre where they turned around and made their way back to Brennan Park.
Participants had the option of doing this once or twice.
At both the Adventure Centre and Brennan Park, there were tables full of food provided by Save-On-Foods and Lawrence tipped his hat to the volunteers who helped make this event a success.
“I’d really like to give a shout out to the volunteers,” he said. “With all this talk about there not being enough firefighters in town, we managed to volunteer here and take all the calls at the station. I’d also really like to thank the [Squamish Fire Association] Ladies Auxiliary for all their help making this event run smoothly.”
