When Cathy Davis followed Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope on the nightly news almost four decades ago, she knew she was going to get involved.
“I had no idea it was going to last this long though,” quipped Davis.
“My dad died of lung cancer when I was 12 so I said ‘you know what, that’s going to be a date with my dad every year I’m going to have that date with my dad’ and I never expected it to be this long of a date.”
Davis has participated in the run from the start and has been the chair of the local event for nine years.
This year’s event is Sunday, Sept. 16 at Gillies Lake. The fun run starts at noon, with walkers taking to the trails at 1 p.m.
“We have a lot of runners in Timmins and a lot of healthy people that are running and we always give that option to people if they want to have another run in the community they have one. They can go around Gillies Lake as many times as they wish,” she said.
“We call it the fun run because it’s not timed anymore and it’s not a competition. It’s just for runners that like that atmosphere of running in a group.”
The 1 p.m. start time, she said, is for when walkers and families come out for a more laid-back atmosphere.
“Come out to remember your loved ones, to celebrate for your loved ones and to help promote research,” she said.
This year also would have marked Terry Fox's 60th birthday, which organizers plan to commemorate.
“We’re going to talk about it, have a moment of silence and maybe just mention about all the other people that would have been 60 at the same time,” said Davis.
To get involved, you can visit TerryFox.org. You can also register the day of the event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The local run usually attracts about 200 participants.
“We’re just so grateful that we can do it every year and people do come out to support the Marathon of Hope, and that Timmins has never missed one run,” she said.
To stay in touch with what’s happening with the Timmins event, visit their Facebook page.
