The Terry Fox Run has been in existence for the last 45 years in Prince George, and there is a lot of history that goes with it.
In 1979, Terry Fox ran the Prince George to Boston Marathon and, after running the 17-mile route, made the decision to embark on his Marathon of Hope in the spring of 1980.
The reason the run was called the PG to Boston Marathon was because the person who won the race was sent — all expenses paid — to run in the Boston Marathon the following year. The Prince George Track & Field Club sponsored the runner’s trip. This run is now called the Labour Day Classic.
Tom Masich was the creator and organizer of the Prince George to Boston Marathon and welcomed Terry Fox and Rick Hansen to participate that year, accommodating the differently abled duo.
Fast forward to 2023, when it looked like there wasn’t going to be a Terry Fox Run in Prince George, Sylvia Masich decided she would take up the cause to keep her grandfather Tom’s legacy alive. Tom passed away Sept. 18, 2022.
“The story really starts back in 1974 when ‘the old man’ — my grandpa — realized that Prince George needed a road race,” Sylvia said.
“So in classic Masich fashion he said, ‘I’m going to make it happen,’ and he started the Prince George to Boston Marathon. It was originally from Salmon Valley into Prince George, but that only lasted a few years because they realized that it was kinda sketchy running along the highway as these big trucks were driving alongside us. So then he moved it into town and in 1979 he was asked if he’d be willing to have an amputee take part in the run, and my grandpa wasn’t someone who liked to say no to people who wanted to participate in sport, so he said yes.
"Then Rick Hansen heard Terry Fox was going to take part, so he asked if he could come in his wheelchair, and so Grandpa changed the route for them so they didn’t have to climb the staircase up Connaught Hill — and that was that. No one knew what Terry was planning until after he finished his race. He finished last, but I think he won everyone’s hearts that day, and at the banquet he shared with everyone that he was planning on running across Canada to raise funds for cancer research. He knew he was ready to do it as early as the spring after running the streets of Prince George.
"I don’t think people at the banquet realized how big of a deal he was going to become. It’s pretty special that Terry ran here in Prince George before anyone knew who he was — and that we played a really significant role in helping him make that decision of when he was ready to run across Canada.”
In September 2022, Tom Masich went into hospice and many members of the Masich family participated in the Terry Fox Run on Sept. 18.
“We were walking along Patricia Boulevard — the same route that Terry had done in 1979 — and my dad got the phone call from hospice saying that my grandpa had passed away, which was just surreal with the timing and the location we were at when he passed away,” Sylvia recalled.
“That was really touching and then 2023 came around, and I was really looking forward to the Terry Fox Run because I needed to do it in my grandpa’s memory, and I learned that no one was organizing it. So in classic Masich fashion, as mentioned before, I said, ‘OK, the Terry Fox Run has to happen and I guess I’m doing it’ — and that’s how I ended up in the lead organizer position, and I have no plans on stepping down any time soon.”
For Sylvia, there are two legacies that come to light when organizing the Terry Fox Run.
“There’s my grandpa’s legacy that I get to carry on, and that is so special for me because I find a lot of the giving back I do — especially in sport — stems from him, because I’ve seen first-hand what a positive impact he’s had on thousands of people through the generations, and that’s really special,” Sylvia said.
“If I could have a fraction of the same impact, that would be amazing. And then there’s Terry’s legacy. I think we can all agree that Terry is the definition of a true Canadian hero, and to continue his legacy here in Prince George is an absolute honour. He always brings the nation together.”
The 45th annual Terry Fox Run goes Sunday, Sept. 14 at the Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park bandshell. Registration begins at 9 a.m., and the event gets underway at 10 a.m. The route is 3 km, and people are welcome to cycle, rollerblade and wheelchair. Please have dogs on a leash.
All funds raised go to the Terry Fox Foundation, which for decades has worked towards achieving Terry’s vision of a world without cancer.
For more information and updates on the run, visit Facebook and Instagram at @TerryFoxRunPG.
Participants can register, and people can donate at https://run.terryfox.ca/princegeorge.
