This year will mark the 45th anniversary of the Terry Fox Run, which first took place on Sept. 13, 1981, just months after its namesake passed away from cancer and a little over a year after his famous Marathon of Hope ended prematurely in Thunder Bay, Ont. 

The local iteration of the fundraiser will launch from the grounds of Pontiac High School early Sunday afternoon (Sept. 14). 

Organizer Jennifer Mielke explained that last year, she and Carolann Barton had taken the torch from the founders of the local run, John Petty and Rick Valin. Despite the short turn-around time they managed to pull off a successful event and keep the long-standing tradition alive. 

“Last year it went surprisingly well considering we only had 30 days, like less than a month to put it together when Carolann and I decided,” she said. “So a few things that we did learn, you know, it’s more than just raising money for cancer research. The values that the Terry Fox Foundation have and how they really want to respect Terry’s final wishes, they really align well I think with both of our values as well.”

New this year, Mielke will be hosting a pre-run yoga session for all experience levels at 10:30 a.m., and there will also be children’s activities on site starting at noon. As is tradition, the Shawville Lions will be hosting a barbeque on site at noon as well, accompanied by live music from Cathy Scullion. Registration begins at 1 p.m. and the starting whistle will blow at 2 p.m. 

Mielke, herself a cancer survivor, emphasized the leaps that have been made in treatment and research, in part due to organizations like the Terry Fox Foundation.

“Even though there isn’t a cure yet, if you look at where cancer [treatments] were 45 years ago, and I’ve read this many times, Terry wouldn’t have had to lose his leg,” she said. “I see that in a lot of people who are thriving with Stage 3 and 4 cancer. They’re leading longer lives, they’re leading active lives [ . . . ] it’s not a death sentence.”