I was 11 years old.
There a few days I remember really well from my youth, I remember the day John Lennon was shot that same year. I remember sitting on the kitchen floor and looking at the newspaper after it was delivered. Back in those days we used to get the paper around dinner time. I remember when we heard on the radio that Gilles Villeneuve, a French Canadian formula 1 racing driver, died during the qualification for the Belgium Grand Prix. The four of us were in the car on our way to the mall and my dad burned a red light when they announced that there had been a terrible accident in Zolder.
And then April 12 1980.
That is the day the great and brave Terry Fox started his MARATHON OF HOPE in St-John, Newfoundland, Canada.
I admired him so much as a young girl. He was the first person I witnessed doing something GREAT. Something EXTRAORDINARY. I would read every article in the paper about him. I wanted to go meet him on the road when he pass through Quebec (sadly Quebec was NOT a highlight on his journey across the country) but my parents said no because I had school.
As an adult and now as an adult who runs I admire him even more.
Sometimes when I read blog and people ask who is your running idol or hero. Lot's of gals say Joan Benoit Samuelson or other Olympians some say Dean Karnazes. For me there is only one and it is Terry Fox. Back home he is a National Hero.
April 12 , 1980, he started his journey across my beautiful country.
143 days.
3339 miles.
On September 1st Cancer put an end to his Marathon of Hope.
June 28, 1981, Terry Fox passed away, exactly 1 month before turning 23 years old.
I remember watching his funeral on TV. I was heartbroken.
Last Saturday, as I cussed, running up that nasty hill in Hollywood, I thought about him.
Here is a video from ESPN about his story.
April 12, 2012 I got 5 miles on the program.
5 miles for you Terry Fox!
20 comments:
Awesome! I am in Victoria, BC, very close to a statue at mile 0 on the TransCanada Hwy of Terry, dedicated to him and his Marathon of Hope.
Lovely tribute post, Caroline. My heart died a little the day John Lennon was shot. I will never forget it.
What a beautiful video about Terry. I will remember him too today when I run my 10 miles. Thank you, Caroline for sharing...
I'm too young to remember his run or when he died, but I remember when the statue in Thunder Bay was installed (the one at the end of the video) and we would go out there whenever we had visitors. But the video made it even more clear to me now how much he was running and how sick he was when he stopped. I have trouble running 5Ks and he did a marathon every day with one leg and tumours in his lungs?! Awe inspiring. Totally my hero too. Thanks so much for sharing that!
Touching tribute to a real running hero.
Great post and lovely tribute :-)
now this is a tribute! one that i admire, because its coming from some i admire. YOU.
What an awesome story! And that line about not having a dollar to buy a gift - so heart warming!
Terry Fox is such an inspiration! I tear up whenever I see footage about him. Thank you so much for writing about him!
Love this! I remember he ran in front of my mom when his marathon came through Ontario and how in awe she was.
Such an inspiration and so sad that he didn't have more time to spread his message.
Thank you so much for sharing this story. Kind of embarrassed that I hadn't heard of him before.
Amazing.
True. Hero.
love this,thank you for sharing
Thank you so much for this post. I am with Emz, I feel bad I never heard of Terry Fox before but now I want to learn more. His story is amazing and brought tears to my eyes. I may need to add his story to My Heroes page. Mahalo!
I am old enough to remember Terry Fox, even as an American. He was amazing. And a really cool thing--the first 5k I ever did about 1,000 yrs. ago was a Terry Fox titled race!
Thanks for sharing. So so inspiring. I love your blog. I'm putting together a huge giveaway in conjunction with a novel about a runner. I'm hoping you'd be involved in posting it on your blog. I've emailed you more details if you are interested. Thanks
I was absolutely in awe with Terry Fox too when I heard about him. He is a true hero.
Since I grew up hearing about him, I think it has been only as an adult that have really been able to wrap my head around what he did. And it was amazing.
Here in Manitoba I get tears in my eyes every year when I teach my students about Terry Fox. He was a true hero.
On a side note one year one of my kinder students thought he was an actual fox and had several nightmares about him being in her yard. Oops ;)
Just found your blog tonight.
I was born after the marathon of hope, and had no idea about Terry Fox. What an incredible young man. Makes me think of a friend from high school who has battled bone cancer and also loves to run. Thanks for sharing the video.
Inspiring in so many ways. Thanks for sharing!
I remember the story of Terry Fox, a real hero.
But I also remember Gilles Villeneuve because he was the driver of the italian team Ferrari. We were his supporters, he had a new way of driving, he was the best but he left us too early.
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