P.E.I. runners celebrate 36th Terry Fox Run

Rain didn't deter more than 100 Islanders from taking part in the Terry Fox Run on Sunday.

Charlottetown was one of hundreds of locations across the country taking part in the 36th annual event to raise money for cancer research.

"I wouldn't miss it. I've been at every Terry Fox Run since the Terry Fox Run first started," said Cheryl Broderick, a Charlottetown resident. "To me he was a hero. He was a hero who believed that if we keep going we can eradicate cancer."

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Fox lost his leg to cancer in 1977. His Marathon of Hope in 1980 gripped the nation when he attempted to run across the country to raise awareness for cancer.

He made it from St. John's, Nfld., to Thunder Bay, Ont., before he was forced to stop when cancer spread to his lungs.

He died in 1981 at the age of 22. Since then, the annual run in his name has raised more than $650 million worldwide.

Legacy of hope

Broderick was living in Thompson, Manitoba at the time Fox died.

"I just want to carry on that hope - and that word "hope" means so much to me because that's what we have now," she said.

Alex Loewen biked from Abbotsford, B.C. and ended up in Charlottetown in time for the run. She said her journey across Canada on bike gave her a better appreciation for Fox's Marathon of Hope.

"My sister is in remission from cancer right now and so it adds another layer in my purpose in coming here today," she said.

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