The cold, grey weather didn't scare away a large and passionate crowd from attending the 38th annual Terry Fox Run, and this year that passion for Terry Fox’s legacy will continue in Prince George throughout the winter.
Fox’s journey is coming to Prince George in the form of a national exhibit that features stories and memorabilia from the famed 1980 Marathon of Hope.
Announced at the start of today's run (Sept. 16) by the Exploration Place CEO Tracy Calogheros and UNBC President Dr. Daniel Weeks, the exhibit — Terry Fox Running to the Heart of Canada — will be co-presented by both The Exploration Place and The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC).
“One of the reasons we have organizations like this in the north is to bring Canada’s national treasures to all of you right here locally and I am absolutely thrilled to be able to tell you that opening Oct. 15 we will have Terry Fox’s legacy exhibit here in Prince George,” Calogheros told the crowd.
“Terry Fox Running to the Heart of Canada features an array of memorabilia for his trip and not to mention the story that has inspired all of you to get up on a cold grey morning to go out and support what is happening today.”
Calogheros added that she and other Exploration Place staff are running in memory of former Exploration Place CEO George Philips who lost his battle to cancer in 2006.
The exhibit is the most comprehensive exhibition ever organized covering the run and Fox's legacy. Developed by the Canadian Museum of History in partnership with Fox’s family, the exhibition features a wide array of artifacts and archival materials, displayed together publicly for the first time.
They include Fox’s journal, artificial leg, and press clippings and media interviews.
Weeks added that Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope van — the actual van that accompanied him on his journey — will also be on display at the UNBC Teaching and Learning Building.
“I remember quite clearly in 1980 I was working a summer job on the Trans-Canada highway in Sault. Ste. Marie, Ontario and I stopped working and watched the van go by and Terry go by,” says Weeks. “I have not seen that van since 1980 and am really looking forward to it so please come up to your university and see this incredible piece of Canadian history.”
The national exhibit also highlights Terry Fox’s connection to Prince George.
Terry Fox came up to Prince George in 1979 (a year before the Marathon of Hope) and participated in a marathon, now known as the Labour Day Classic, with his brother. That race gave him the confidence to take on the Marathon of Hope the following year.
“Thank you so much for supporting the Terry Fox run and the legacy of Terry Fox being an iconic Canadian hero,” Scott McWalter, lead organizer of the Terry Fox Run, said to participants before they set off on the 5 km loop around Cottonwood Island Park. “You being here today continues the tradition of Terry Fox and not only what he meant to our nation but to our community."
Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada is being presented at The Exploration Place from Oct. 15, 2018, to Jan. 13, 2019. It was first presented at the Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, Que.
