For years runners have marked the annual Terry Fox Run on their calendars as a must-run event.

For some, the cause is the key. For others, the chance to run a race short enough for their children to enjoy plays a role.

Whatever the reason, the trend is continuing: As of Friday 218 runners had entered Sunday’s 19th edition of the race. The 3.1-mile race will begin at 11:30 a.m., and registration tables will be open from 9:30-11. The race starts and finishes at the Best Western White House Inn in Hampden.

“There’s a lot of different things [that contribute to the popularity of the race],” race director Ed Rice said. “[One is] the way that cancer has affected so many different people’s lives.”

The race serves as a fund-raiser for a regional breast cancer prevention trial known as the STAR trial.

The University of Maine hockey team will attend the race for the sixth straight year, and Rice said he will honor the Black Bears’ coach, Shawn Walsh, by presenting race bib No. 1 to the team.

Walsh is battling kidney cancer.

Last year’s race drew 362 finishers, while the largest edition of the race was held in 1986, when 623 runners finished.

But Rice said last year’s race raised the most money of any Bangor-area Fox Run: $7,000.

In its 18-year run, Rice said the runs have raised $52,770 for cancer research programs.

The race is named for Terry Fox, a young Canadian athlete who died in 1981 after running 3,339 miles of his 5,300-mile “Marathon of Hope.” Fox ran on one good leg and an artificial limb.

Last year’s race was won by University of Maine standout Ben Ray in 15 minutes, 44 seconds. Jo-Anne Nealey of Northport set a course record en route to winning the women’s division in 18:07.

This year’s Terry Fox Award recipient, which goes to a person who embodies Fox’s struggle, is Bangor businessman Galen Cole.