In the race to beat cancer, Squamish doubled its efforts over last year to support the Terry Fox Foundation.
Organizer Jordan Lawrence of the Squamish Firefighter's Association said about 100 people participated in the Terry Fox Run on Sunday (Sept. 18) at Brennan Park. The participation level doubled the number from last year.
Those who participated in the fun run made $2,800 in pledges and Lawrence said donations gathered on the day of the event totaled about $2,000.
"One person had $400 in pledges that were collected online," said Lawrence. "And, one person gave $300 in cash."
Lawrence estimated the amount pledged for this year's event was about $800 more than the amount raised last year.
The event marked the 25th year of the Terry Fox Run. According to the Terry Fox Foundation, more than $17 million was raised through the fun runs held last year.
The fundraising this year was bolstered by strong school participation in a new initiative called the National School Run. More than 2.5 million students across the country, including students at the schools in Squamish, started running at 9:00 a.m. on Friday (Sept. 16).
"Their support demonstrates how Terry Fox's influence transcends generations," said Clare Adams, the B.C. and Yukon Terry Fox Foundation provincial director.
More than 84 per cent of the schools in B.C. and the Yukon indicated their students would run.
Before he died, Terry Fox said, "Even though I'm not running anymore, we still have to try to find a cure for cancer. Other people should go ahead and try to do their own thing now."
In advance of the 25th anniversary of Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope, the Terry Fox Foundation reported the total amount raised over the 24 previous years through the annual run was $360 million.
According to the Foundation, 87 per cent of the money raised went to cancer research, 10 per cent went to fundraising initiatives and three per cent was used for administrative purposes.
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