Fred Fox, far left, with the Medicine Hat organizing committee and a full-sized cardboard cutout of Terry Fox at McNally's Tap House.--NEWS PHOTO SAMANTHA JOHNSON
reporter@medicinehatnews.com
Fred Fox, brother to Terry Fox, was in Medicine Hat on Monday, and the News caught up with him just prior to a sit-down dinner with the local Terry Fox Run organizing committee at McNally’s Tap House.
Starting out from Regina at 8 a.m., Fox visited two schools in Swift Current before continuing on to Medicine Hat, where he spent the night.
“I left home a week ago today. I live in the Vancouver area. I flew to Toronto, did a bunch of stuff there and out in Niagara Falls.
While in Regina, Fox ran a half marathon in the Queen City Marathon.
“I was in Regina back in May visiting schools and our person who works in the Regina office challenged me to come back and run the half, so I said OK.”
Stopping in the Hat worked out well, as Fox is heading to Calgary and then Edmonton. While he works for the Terry Fox Foundation full time, he takes time to travel twice a year. This year, he will be in Winnipeg for the Terry Fox Run on Sept. 17 and will then fly to Prince Edward Island and tour the Maritimes for several days.
“It’s one of these things I do in the fall and then the spring,” Fox said. “This past year I did eight weeks on the road visiting schools across the country. It was really cool in the spring. It was the first time I’ve been able to travel in a couple of years.
“I hit every province except P.E.I., which I’m doing this trip, and then I even got to Yellowknife and visited schools there. Everything that has happened up in Yellowknife with the fires and all that, it’s been on my mind because I got to know some great people there.”
When he travels, Fox speaks to students, parents and teachers, many of whom weren’t alive 43 years ago when his brother ran those 5,373 km across Canada in 1980.
“His legacy continues through lots of hard work by volunteers like Keith (Walker) and the committee and volunteers here who keep it going every year. It’s 650 communities across the country who are doing it, small and big, and more than 9,000 schools as well.”
Keith Walker is co-president of the Sunrise Rotary Club and chair of the Terry Fox organizing committee in Medicine Hat. The local Terry Fox Run will happen on the Sunrise Rotary Trail this Sunday.
“It’s a nice, flat trail that goes for three kilometres around the campus of Medicine Hat College,” explained Walker. “Terry did not want the run to ever be competitive.
“Registration and events will take place at the entrance to MHC. The start time is 10:30 a.m., and people can walk, run, go as long or as short as they want.”
A family-oriented event, there will be games from the library, food from South Country Co-op, a bubble machine and other fun things with the weather expected to be sunny and warm.
The committee had set a fundraising goal at $7,000 and was hoping for at least 100 people to participate in the run, but with five days to go, those goals have already been exceeded.
“They (The Terry Fox Foundation) are the most successful fundraiser for cancer research in Canada,” stated Walker.
Mayor Linnsie Clark signed a proclamation on Sept. 12 and the lights of the Saamis Tepee will be changed to red and white on Sept. 14 to honour the white shirt with the Canadian flag Terry Fox wore during his famous run.
