25 years since Canadian Terry Fox passed away
I'm not even sure where I read it on Wednesday when I was in Vancouver, but it was a note somewhere indicating that it had been exactly 25 years to the day since Canadian Terry Fox lost his battle with cancer.
The Wikipedia entry that I linked to above, in case you don't know anything about Fox or your memory of his significance in the quest to raise money for cancer research, states the following:
"Terry began by dipping his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean at St. John's, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980. He aimed to dip it again in the Pacific Ocean at Vancouver, British Columbia. He also filled two large bottles with Atlantic Ocean water; his plan was to keep one as a souvenir and pour the other one into the Pacific. His plan was to run about 42 km (26.2 miles) a day, the distance of a typical marathon. No one had ever done anything similar to the task Fox was undertaking.
"Unfortunately, Fox could not finish his run. The cancer had spread to his lungs, and he was forced to abandon the course on September 1, 1980 just northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario after 143 days. He had run 5,373 km (3,339 miles, or around 23.3 miles per day) through Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario."
Dean Karnazes, aka Ultra Marathon Man who finished the Western States 100 last weekend, will start his "The North Face Endurance 50" in mid-September. The slick e-mail from The North Face states the following, "Find out how Dean Karnazes will seek to redefine the limits of human endurance in The North Face Endurance 50."
I think Terry Fox did so 26 years ago in his attempt to run across Canada.
Maybe Dean will stop, take a moment and pay honor to Terry.
The Wikipedia entry that I linked to above, in case you don't know anything about Fox or your memory of his significance in the quest to raise money for cancer research, states the following:
"Terry began by dipping his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean at St. John's, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980. He aimed to dip it again in the Pacific Ocean at Vancouver, British Columbia. He also filled two large bottles with Atlantic Ocean water; his plan was to keep one as a souvenir and pour the other one into the Pacific. His plan was to run about 42 km (26.2 miles) a day, the distance of a typical marathon. No one had ever done anything similar to the task Fox was undertaking.
"Unfortunately, Fox could not finish his run. The cancer had spread to his lungs, and he was forced to abandon the course on September 1, 1980 just northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario after 143 days. He had run 5,373 km (3,339 miles, or around 23.3 miles per day) through Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario."
Dean Karnazes, aka Ultra Marathon Man who finished the Western States 100 last weekend, will start his "The North Face Endurance 50" in mid-September. The slick e-mail from The North Face states the following, "Find out how Dean Karnazes will seek to redefine the limits of human endurance in The North Face Endurance 50."
I think Terry Fox did so 26 years ago in his attempt to run across Canada.
Maybe Dean will stop, take a moment and pay honor to Terry.
posted by WalkSports.com | 1:49 AM
3 Comments:
Jon,
It's my turn to borrow from you. I will include your note about Terry Fox in my next group message. We have a few Canadians in my group including one that was in the crowd as a 9yr old the day Terry Fox stopped his run.
Jon, thanks for getting us together.
That's incredible! Thanks for sharing.
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