The Terry Fox Run will be held on Sept. 19 at Centennial Park along the Discovery Trail. 

The run starts at 11 a.m. with a mass start, but organizer Stephanie English said anyone can join in after. There is no minimum donation required to participate and donations can be made on the day of the race. 

“Whatever you can do is the best,” English said. 

Pledge forms are available at Totem Ski Shop or online at terryfox.org.

Last year the Jasper Terry Fox Run gathered about $4,000 in donations and English is hoping to up that amount to $5,000 this year, with about 50 participants. 

English said it is a worthwhile cause that is a little different from other cancer charities. Eighty-seven per cent of the money goes to cancer research. The Terry Fox Foundation has a low overhead cost with many volunteers, which keeps the majority of donations going towards research. The foundation receives all donations from runs all over Canada and distributes the funds from there. The money doesn’t go to a particular kind of cancer, but all types.

“They’ve made it all about cancer,” English said. 

Canadians honour Fox every year and English said it is a great way to keep his work going. 

“We have very few Canadian heroes,” she said. “He was wise beyond his years.”

English said Fox personified courage during his Marathon of Hope, which began in St. John’s N.L. on April 12, 1980 and finished in Thunder Bay, Ont. after Fox’s cancer spread to his lungs. He died on June 28, 1981, one month short of his 23rd birthday.