Terry Fox Run slated for Sept. 8 in Bangor

BANGOR – The 20th annual Terry Fox Run will be held on Sunday, Sept. 8, at 11:30 a.m. at the Best Western White House Inn, off Exit 44 of Interstate 95.

The 5-kilometer – 3.1-mile – run-walk, which has raised more than $62,770 to date for local cancer research, will be held for the ninth year to benefit breast cancer prevention studies and clinical trials at Eastern Maine Medical Center.

Sponsored principally by Lafayette Hotels, along with Eastern Maine Charities and the Sub 5 Track Club, the event set an all-time single year fund-raising record last year when it presented a check for $10,000 in support of the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene project at EMMC.

The long-term national study, which is overseen by the National Cancer Institute, observes women who are at risk for contracting breast cancer.

The event honors the memory of Terry Fox, the Canadian athlete who attempted a transcontinental run of his country in 1980, running on one good leg and one artificial limb.

Fox ran to raise money for cancer research and to demonstrate to the handicapped that they should not think of themselves as disabled. After running 3,339 miles of his anticipated 5,300-mile “Marathon of Hope,” Fox was struck down by cancer for a second time. He died June 28, 1981.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the run, event organizers will host a free showing of the 45-minute documentary film “The Life and Times of Terry Fox,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, in the Mason Auditorium of Eastern Maine Medical Center.

Recently, in a nation-wide poll to identify the 10 greatest Canadian heroes of all time, Fox was chosen No. 1 by a huge margin.

For the seventh year, the two-time National Champion University of Maine Black Bear hockey team will join participants at the run-walk. Upper classmen, in particular, will participate in memory of their late coach, Sean Walsh, who died last year of cancer.

Previous special guests at the run have included novelist Stephen King, four-time Boston Marathon winner Bill Rodgers, Maine running legends Joan Benoit Samuelson and Bruce Bickford, and Terry’s mother, Betty Fox.

In addition to the overall top male and female finishers, awards will be presented in the following age group divisions: 10 years old and under, 11-14, 15-18, 19-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and 70 years old and above, plus first male and female walkers.

There will also be awards the youngest and oldest finishers, the family with most participating members, and the Terry Fox Award – a special plaque given to the participant “who best exemplifies the ideals of Terry Fox.” T-shirts will be presented to the first 300 individuals to register, and applications are available at the White House Inn, Saucony Outlet Store, Cadillac Mountain Sports and other sporting goods stores.

There will be registration the day of the run, from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the start-finish line at the Best Western White House Inn. For more information, contact Ed Rice at 866-7238.