TIFF sets off running. In September, the new documentary about Terry Fox runs.
Before I finally settled in Canada ten years ago, I heard and read about this man named Terry Fox. Every year in September, the Terry Fox Run was held across Canada, raising donations for his cancer research foundation. Who was this man, who took on all this agony to run a marathon of 42 kilometres every single day, right across Canada?
Terry complained of knee pain after a car accident in November 1976. A year later came the diagnosis: cancer. His right leg was amputated above the knee. Still in hospital, the idea for the long run across Canada is said to have taken shape in Terry’s head. The idea was simple: Terry runs across Canada and raises money for cancer research. With only one healthy leg.
“Somewhere the hurting must stop” became the motto of Terry’s project.
For a full 18 months, Terry trained daily and covered 5,000 kilometres in preparation. He had already lined up sponsors such as Imperial Oil, Adidas, and Ford. Terry developed his own running style to make progress: two hops on the healthy leg, then weight on the prosthesis. The stump was still often bloody and raw.
On April 12, 1980, Terry dipped his prosthesis into the Atlantic in St. John’s and filled a bottle with sea water. He meant to empty it into the Pacific on the West Coast. That’s how you pack a great goal into a single bottle. Then began the daily grind of his great run, the Terry Fox Run.
Before dawn each day, he wanted to run 42 kilometres. Every single day. He fought spring storms in the East, blistering heat through Ontario, and, of course, immense pain. By May 6, in Port aux Basques, Terry had already raised $10,000 — about a dollar per resident. That’s how the formula “a dollar per Canadian” was born. In the Atlantic provinces and Quebec, Terry and his great run drew little attention and generated few donations. But once he reached Ontario, things turned in his favour. A police escort accompanied him, and he met then Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. What’s more, the Toronto Star devoted a weekly column to Terry Fox and his run.
How did Terry manage, despite the foul weather and the pain, to never want to give up? The mix of courage, endurance, and above all stubbornness was likely the driving force. But these efforts took their toll on Terry’s health. Dizzy spells, coughing fits, days when he could barely stand. Terry ran anyway. A marathon a day. A marathon a day.
On September 1, 1980, after 5,373 km, just short of Thunder Bay, the end of Terry’s run announced itself: lung cancer. In February 1981, Terry turned the motto “A dollar per Canadian” into fact. He raised $24 million, which matched exactly the population count of the time. Geographically, he never reached his goal. On the donation ledger, he did.
Terry died on June 28, 1981, in New Westminster, one month before his 23rd birthday.
Terry was named the youngest Companion of the Order of Canada and the winner of the 1980 Lou Marsh Trophy.
Today, a documentary about the Canadian legend Terry Fox is being presented to audiences at TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival. It aims, above all, to introduce the man Terry Fox himself, with many of his original comments.
Tomorrow, Sunday, the annual Terry Fox Run takes place across Canada. At 8 in the morning, I’ll pull on my “FINISH IT!” t-shirt and run the 2026 Terry Fox Run alongside many thousands of Canadians. Donation included.
“Somewhere the hurting must stop.” Terry’s story runs on.
Photo: Glenn Roger Photography