Terry Fox Run (By: Jordan Brundrett)
R.E. Mountain’s Terry Fox Run on Thursday, September 26th was a great success! The whole school turned out (including teachers) for a school-wide run around R.E. Mountain Secondary School and the Langley Events Center.
Each year, the Terry Fox Run is held in the month of September. It is the world’s largest one-day fundraising event in support of cancer research. As many people know, Terry Fox is a Canadian hero who courageously ran halfway across Canada in 1980. Terry started his daring journey in September in St. John’s and made it all the way to Thunder Bay before he was forced to abandon his run due to the return of his cancer and its spread to his lungs.
The inaugural Terry Fox Run was held in 1981 when over 300,000 people took part and raised $3.5 million. Since then, school participation in Canada has increased. Now, thousands of schools take part annually nation-wide. Currently in its 33rd year, the Run has raised over half a billion dollars!
When asked, one of the school’s run organizers noted that such a great turnout was made possible by the tremendous size of our student body. The total amount raised from the Run at R.E. Mountain is still unknown, but it is expected to be a few hundred dollars.
In past years, government restrictions on roads surrounding the school prevented the Run, but the restrictions were recently lifted as of two years ago and now this amazing event can hopefully continue for years to come.
Due to our constantly increasing school population, the Run was carried out with three waves of people – each starting the race about ten minutes apart. This made the Run much safer and efficient. No one was injured in the Run.
Students were very excited and loved the challenge, “It was hard, but I did it!” said one student. “I loved taking part in this amazing activity and I can’t wait till next year!” commented another student.
Congratulations to everyone who took part in this inspiring event to help raise awareness about cancer and its terrible effects on people.