Supporting Terry one step at a time

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Published on Thursday, September 22, 2016

Participants in the Neepawa Terry Fox Run begin their 5 km walk to support cancer research. (photos by Tony Eu)

By Tony Eu
Neepawa Banner

On Sunday, Sept. 18, the annual Terry Fox Run took place. Organized by Kelly Krzyzaniak, the 5 km Neepawa run saw 79 runners and seven volunteers raise $6,700.

The course for the run started on the NACI track, following it around to the northeast corner of the school area, where participants got onto William St. From there, the runners headed west onto Mountain Ave., then south until Boundary St. The runners followed Boundary St. all the way until Fifth St., where they turned and headed down to their halfway point at Dairy Queen. When they arrived, runners were greeted with water and ice cream courtesy of DQ.

Participants starting out on the second half of the walk after taking a quick break at Dairy Queen.  

After the short ice cream break, the runners headed one block east on Highway 16 to Fourth St. From there, they headed all the way back to Boundary, then back to Mountain, finally turning down Hospital St. to make it back to the NACI’s track.

At the end of the course, runners were given a cookie. There was also a draw for Terry Fox t-shirts as well as other Terry Fox ‘merchandise’.

 “Everything is donated and that’s part of the mandate of the Terry Fox Foundation,” Krzyzaniak said about where they got the food and other items. “It’s volunteer driven and volunteer run. There’s no commercialization of the Terry Fox Run which makes it unique amongst a lot of the fundraising runs,” she added.

On the canteen building beside the track, pictures from previous Terry Fox runs were put up. Going all the way back to the first Neepawa run in 1997 and continuing up until last year, the pictures show the strength of the legacy Terry Fox left behind and its continuation today.

The continuation of Terry’s legacy is also carried on by the next generation, with Hazel M. Kellington raising $1,385 during their run on Sept. 16. Combined with the money raised from the community event, Neepawa has raised $7,885 this year to support cancer research.

Students from K to 3 ran a short course around a couple blocks downtown, while students in Grade 4 to 5 ran a course that took them to Riverbend Park and back. Accompanying the young runners were members of the Neepawa Natives hockey team, who volunteered at the event. Along with running with the students, members of the Natives also helped out with the barbecue that followed.

Regardless of where you look, it’s clear that the Terry Fox Run will continue to provide support to cancer research for as long as it’s needed.

The Terry Fox Run has become an annual tradition across Canada since 1981.