PORT HARDY—The annual Terry Fox Run for cancer research returns to Port Hardy Saturday, and organizers are hoping for a larger turnout in the community.
"You can walk, run or ride," said Melinda Dennison of the Port Hardy Recreation Centre, who is organizing the event with assistance from Pam Johnson. "There will be T-shirts for sale, and we'll have bottled water and cookies for participants."
The Terry Fox Run begins at 11 a.m. at the Port Hardy Secondary School track and will continue through 2 p.m.
The run, one of hundreds held across the country, commemorates the 1980 Marathon of Hope run by the late Terry Fox, who attempted to run across Canada after his right leg was amputated as the result of a malignant tumor.
Fox ran for 143 days, covering 5,373 kilometres, before his run was cut short when the cancer spread to his lungs while he was in Ontario.
Fox died the following June at age 22, and the first Terry Fox Run was held that September as a way to finish the work he began to raise awareness and money in the fight against cancer.
In April of 2010 the Terry Fox Foundation announced total fundraising efforts topped the $500 million mark.
Participants in this week's run in Port Hardy may pick up a pledge form at the recreation centre, or pledge online at www.terryfox.org.