Thirty-two years after he completed a trial run on Prince George streets, more than 500 people showed up to continue Terry Fox's legacy Sunday morning - despite the dreary weather and threat of thundershowers.
The 31st annual Terry Fox Run for cancer research kicked off at Community Foundation Park to the sound of an old truck air horn Sunday morning, sounded by long-time cause supporter Dick Voneugen.
Voneugen, who met Fox back when he came to participate in the the Prince George to Boston Marathon (now the Labour Day Classic), reminisced about his encounter with the then-20-year-old Port Coquitlam man back in 1979.
The Prince George event, then the longest road race in the province, was trial run for Fox to test his endurance before deciding to embark on his cross-country journey.
"We were in the shower together after the race and I asked him if he needed a hand," Voneugen told The Citizen, recalling how Fox hopped about unaided without the use of his prosthetic leg.
"He was an amazing kid. I always think of what I was doing when I was 22 - it wasn't very significant," Voneugen said.
This year's run, which has brought in about $11,000, was dedicated to Terry's mother, Betty Fox, who passed away in June.
Mayor Dan Rogers shared his experience of Betty Fox, recounting his involvement as a volunteer showing her around during her visit to Prince George two decades ago.
"She was such a genuine person. I immediately felt like she was a part of the family," Rogers said.
"She was always there," Voneugen said of the matriarch. "She was a remarkable woman for giving us the gift of Terry and carrying on with his legacy and protecting it from commercialism."
That legacy can be seen in the young children who came to take part in the event and in the classroom of run co-organizer Liza Arnold.
Prior to participants leaving the starting line, Arnold brought a few people to tears with recollection from her Grade 5/6 classroom. She shared the story of a student, nine-year-old Destiny Holdis, who described Fox as lucky, because he didn't pass away when he was first diagnosed with cancer, but had time to start his marathon.
"Today, we are lucky for a number of reasons to be here together to continue Terry's Marathon of Hope," Arnold said.
