OLDS — This year’s edition of the Terry Fox Run in Olds will go ahead, rain or shine, organizer Mike Lipiec says.
The event raises money for cancer research and is named after cancer patient Terry Fox, 22, who raised money for cancer research by attempting to run across Canada in 1980. Unfortunately, he had to stop, as his cancer progressed. He died not long afterward.
The run takes place Sept. 18.
Registration is at 10 a.m. at the Olds Fire Department hall, which also serves as the start and finish for the event. The run gets underway at 11 a.m. Participants can choose between a 10-kilometre route or a five-kilometre route.
Lipiec points out that although it’s called a “run,” participants don’t actually have to run. They can walk, if they wish.
“You don’t have to run at all; you can bike as well, whatever you can get out on,” he said during an interview.
Lipiec is taking over as organizer this year from Noel D’Arcy, who arranged the event for many years.
The run will not include a barbecue this year. Lipiec said it was just too much to plan for this year.
This is the first full-on, in-person Terry Fox Run in Olds in a couple of years.
Social distancing was encouraged during last year’s event and hand sanitizer was made available.
The 2020 version was a combination in-person and online event. Participants could choose whichever format suited them best.
Although Lipiec is the main organizer of this year’s Terry Fox Run, he says about 10 volunteers will be helping to run it, doing things like collecting donations and making sure road crossings are safe.
“We’ll be accepting donations there on the day of the run in person or through terryfox.org online,” Lipiec said.
He also noted there’s a link on the Olds Fire Department’s Facebook page that goes directly to their site.
Because this is the first Terry Fox Run after COVID restrictions, Lipiec is not sure how many donations organizers will receive, so there’s no official fundraising goal this year.
But he’s optimistic.
“We do have some that have started to trickle in, so that’s good,” he said.
