In years past, I’ve always heard the name Terry Fox, but I didn’t really know the significance of his name until last year when I watched a documentary called “Into the Wind.” It was by far one of the most inspiring films I had ever seen.
Diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of 18, Terry Fox had his right leg amputated 6 inches above the knee. In April 1980, when he was 21 years old, he embarked on a run across Canada, calling it his Marathon of Hope to raise awareness and cancer funds for cancer research.
However, after covering 3,339 miles in 143 days, he was forced to stop in September due to the emergence of cancer in his lungs. The following year, on June 28, 1981 Terry Fox passed away at the age of 22. Today would have been his 53rd birthday.
Whenever I have a difficult time during a run, Terry Fox quickly pops into my mind. Everybody has their moments of challenges during a run, whether it’s physical or mental or both, but Terry Fox defied both. Last year when I ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll Denver Marathon, envisioning him run was like he was right there with me. RnR Denver was definitely one of my most difficult races I had ever completed. I remember feeling great in the beginning and then I hit mile 15 and the wheels started to come loose. By mile 20, the wheels officially fell off. I wanted nothing more in the world than for the marathon, that marathon, to only be 21 miles. But I kept plodding along thinking ‘if Terry Fox could do this, I certainly can too.’ And I did. There are no excuses — for anyone.