For the first time in 23 years, the Jasper Terry Fox Run is in jeopardy.

With no organizers stepping up from the community, the annual cancer research fundraiser run that has raised more than $450 million to date across the country in hundreds of communities may not take place in Jasper this year.

Last year the event was run by the Jasper Booster, however after closing its doors in March, that is no longer a possibility.

"No one's really come forward, so the danger now is if we don't find someone then we won't have one," said Rhonda Risebrough, Terry Fox Run provincial director for Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

According to Risebrough, Jasper is the only community in Alberta not to have an organizer. In the past, she says they have always had someone step forward whenever someone steps down, and she’s hoping it will be the same this year, but time is running out.

Terry Fox Run headquarters would like to have an organizer in place by mid-August for Jasper.

"There were 70 people participating in Jasper last year, raising $7,000 approximately. Also the fire department held their own head shave that raised $8,000 so Jasper has lots of Terry Fox supporters, we just have to find a leader or two to take it on," she said.

Risebrough said it is usually better if a group, rather than one person, takes on the role as organizer.

"A lot of our events are organized by one person mainly, but usually with a small committee. So, either or, one person, or if they want to help out and be part of a group to organize it that's just as good as well."

Running the Terry Fox Run in such a small town is not a huge job, but essential to continue the legacy. Risebrough said there isn’t a lot to organize, only making sure the site is booked, and to promote the event using posters and word of mouth.
Registration is set up through the Terry Fox Run’s website, or runners can just show up the day of the run.

"We supply them with all they need to put on the event. We supply the poster, pledge sheets, promotional materials, support and instructions and all that," Risebrough said.

"Jasper's not a huge event, it's not like Calgary or Edmonton where they have 15 people and they work for three months on it. I would say it would be probably a couple of hours a week and then closer to the date, once September hits it’s usually a little bit busier, just with the details," she said. "But it's really not onerous, compared to a lot of other ones."

In addition to putting posters up around town, Risebrough said they try and get the word out to the hotels too. With so many visitors in Jasper, many people run the race every year and don’t want to miss it, wherever they are, and sometimes people even come from the city to towns like Jasper and Banff to run because they are smaller venues and it’s such a beautiful location.

"The nice thing about the Terry Fox Run is that essentially it happens in every community in Canada, regardless of the size of the community. So every event is really unique," explained Risebrough.

"We have some that are really, really small and some that are huge. There’s kind of something for everybody."

This is the first time in 23 years that the Jasper run has had difficulties recruiting run volunteers. The Jasper run has raised more than $115,000 towards cancer research.
Risebrough is looking for a community-spirited individual or group with high energy and enthusiasm to take the reins this year.

If the Jasper run does not take place this year, runners will have to travel to Hinton or Lake Louise for the event.

"Like I said, once you get the site booked, you just really need a few friends to help you distribute posters around town and spread the word, and people just come out," she said.

For further information about how you can get involved, contact Rhonda Risebrough toll free at 1-888-836-9786.