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Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope

Broadcast Date: Sept. 13, 1981

A year after the death of Terry Fox, the Marathon of Hope opens up to the whole world.
Hundreds of thousands of people across Canada and around the globe pick up where Terry left off, walking, wheeling and running 10 kilometres to commemorate the first annual Terry Fox Day.
Ironically, the loss of Terry Fox to cancer mobilizes a generation of Canadians to participate in physical activity.

Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope

• In the year following his death, Terry Fox was honoured in many ways: a Rocky Mountain peak near Jasper, B.C. was named in his memory; the end of Terry's run, an 83 kilometre stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway between Thunder Bay and Nipigon, Ont. was renamed the Terry Fox Courage Highway; the Canadian government's Terry Fox Humanitarian Award was created to reward students demonstrating the best qualities of citizenship and humanitarian service.

• Terry Fox was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame on Aug. 29, 1981.
• Canada Post issued a stamp of Terry in 1982; an honour that normally waits until 10 years after the death of the subject. Another stamp was issued in 2000.
• The first Terry Fox Run attracted 300,000 participants at over 760 sites around the world. It raised $3.5 million for cancer research.

Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope

Medium: Radio

Program: CBC Radio News Special

Broadcast Date: Sept. 13, 1981

Guest(s):

Host: Rick Cluff
Reporter: George Young

Duration: 3:18

Last updated:
Sept. 5, 2006