Madness In The Middle Kingdom

3339 miles
143 days
1 man
1 leg
1 dream

Of course I am writing about the larger than life Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Sept 1st, 1980 was the day that Terry Fox had to announce to the country that his dream of running across Canada was over. The cancer in his knee had returned and now had spread to his lungs. Although I was only 12 years old I remember his interview with reporters where he vowed to finish his run - his dream if there were any way possible. Every time I watch that video I get choked up. He was truly a hero even if he didn’t know it or even if he didn’t want to be. His Marathon of Hope lives on.

Today at our school we had a Terry Fox Run. Here we are 26 years later and half a world away and there were 2,400 students out walking and running for a cause they did not truly understand but they did it because they knew it was important to us - their Canadian teachers. Their attitude wasn’t one of “hey then we get to miss class if we do this run” but instead it was out of respect for us and ultimately for the legend of Terry Fox. It was truly powerful to be a part of.

Click the following link for a fairly complete Terry Fox bio