We lament the loss of the Run of Hope in Estevan.
Sunday represented the 30th anniversary of the run which represented his Marathon of Hope and the day came and went with nary a nod of recognition in this corner of the province. That's sad, especially when we reflect on previous efforts that attracted hundreds of runners and thousands of dollars in support of cancer research efforts in the name of one of Canada's true heroes.
It is true that the Energy City is very generous in nature. That has been proven time and again. Just ask our local United Way committee members.
But perhaps we've just been "marathoned out."
The Relay for Life appears to have superseded the Run of Hope in terms of gaining local attention and that?s not necessarily a negative thing. In fact because it too is dedicated to finding cures for cancer, Terry Fox himself probably would have endorsed it and participated.
There are other local marathons seeking support not only for cancer victims and research, but for other debilitating afflictions. All deserve our attention and our donations, so all we can do from this corner is send out our regrets that the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope 30th anniversary on Sunday didn?t officially include Estevan.
When the first TF runs were established, they were entirely community organized and included everyone from seniors to kids in strollers. They were held on a Saturday or Sunday.
As the popularity grew, several schools jumped aboard with their individual runs on more convenient dates while the community run still went ahead on the weekend.
After awhile that process began to drain the participation levels for the public run. Not as many children were running on the weekend, or gathering pledges for the community run. They were doing it at their schools on different days. Add to that scenario, a few inclement weather events for the community organized run and the loss of a couple of key community organizers who had been dedicated to the cause, and we reached the point where a community based Terry Fox Run just didn?t happen.
Nobody is to blame for this unfortunate situation. It?s just a cause and effect matter.
What we do hope for the Marathon of Hope though, is that the schools continue to acknowledge the event and pledge their support while keeping the students engaged in the Terry Fox story. This was a young man who made the short list for The Greatest Canadian honour. His legacy needs to be honoured by raising and maintaining awareness and funds for cancer research.
Last week media releases from the Canadian Cancer Society stated that at least four types of cancer are now 85 to 92 per cent curable and/or beatable. Many others are getting much higher survivor rates thanks to new and improved research, diagnosis and treatment regimes.
In other words, the scientific and medical communities and cancer victims are collectively winning many more battles with cancer compared with just a few years ago.
Their efforts and the fundraising efforts are paying off with concrete results.
So while we missed the local community based Terry Fox Run this year, we hope we can rest assured that his legacy is not lost and that our community's generosity when it comes to funding research for cures, is not lost either.
We may not have been running last weekend, but we're fighting.
