It's official. The annual Terry Fox Run is returning to Carrot Park in Port Hardy on Sunday, Sept. 15.
Organizer Janet Dorward, who's been in charge of the Port Hardy fundraiser since 2019, is excited to bring the run back to Carrot Park again this year.
Fundraising has "started slow but is coming along," Dorward said in an interview with the Gazette, noting the Port Hardy Terry Fox Run page has raised $1,127 so far as of Tuesday, Aug. 27. "I'm personally hoping to raise at least $18,500 between the Terry Fox Run and Cops for Cancer," she added, "and I'm going to shave my head if I do."
She joked that she's been wanting to have a more natural hair colour for awhile now, "and I thought that I would do it in one fell swoop and make a fundraiser out of it. I think lots of people out there would like to see me with a bald head."
As for what the fundraiser means to Dorward personally, she said Terry Fox was "a real hero in my eyes. We have to keep his dream alive, keep this going, and we have to keep pushing for innovations in cancer research. There's been a lot of developments over the years and the money raised saves and extends lives."
The Port Hardy Terry Fox Run on Sunday, Sept. 15 will feature a fun warmup with some great tunes, and there will be inspirational messages written along the 1k and 5k routes with lots of cheering at the finish line.
Registration starts early in the morning at 9:00 a.m. with the run starting at 10:00 a.m. and ending around 11:30 a.m.
