25th Anniversary of Terry Fox's Run Through Montreal
25 years ago; Few Montrealers turned out to greet him, but they say he was unforgettable

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Posted Wednesday, 22 June, 2005

By Heba Aly
The Montreal Gazette

June 22, 1980, was a perfect day for a run.

A nice, clear Sunday morning, not too warm.

Guy Thibaudeau, a CJAD radio reporter, stood waiting on the Jacques Cartier Bridge with a few other people.

"And there he arrived, hopping along."

It wasn't the big reception people envision when they think of Terry Fox.

But those who met the one-legged runner when he passed through Montreal 25 years ago remember the experience to this day.

"The country made a saint out of him, and I sort of feel that's the closest I've ever been to a saint," said Thibaudeau, now 59, who ran with Fox and a few other people across the bridge and to the Four Seasons Hotel downtown.

"I'm really grateful that I had the opportunity to get close to him, to do something with him, because not too many people have."

Thibaudeau and friend Stan Gibbons, then a CBC newscaster, had been training to run a marathon when they were told by their respective news organizations that the 21-year-old Fox, who had lost a leg to cancer, was running across Canada to raise money for cancer research.

"He was running about 40 to 45 kilometres every day, and we were training to do one run of 42 kilometres," Thibaudeau said.

"So it was quite impressive, notwithstanding the fact he was running on one leg."

Thibaudeau recounted how he had to stay a distance away from Fox while running because the latter's artificial leg would swing out to the side as he ran.

But as memorable as the experience was, there weren't many people there to share it.

Thibaudeau, Gibbons, Montreal Alouettes kicker Don Sweet and several wheelchair athletes were among the few people to show up.

"I was just disappointed that once we got into the city, there was really nobody on both sides of the sidewalk to speak of to see what turned out to be a very historic run across Canada by someone who turned out to be a national hero," Gibbons said.

A few passers-by stopped and applauded as the small group ran, but the reception was nothing like the one Fox would receive when he reached Ontario, where thousands lined the streets in some places to see him run.

But Quebec was a different story. In his diary, Fox noted that motorists in Quebec drove him off the road.

Fox was a volunteer with the Canadian Cancer Society. The poor reception in Quebec was the result of a decision by the society's provincial division not to support this specific volunteer, unlike the national organization and most other provincial divisions, said Peter Sheremeta, the Quebec provincial director of the Terry Fox Foundation.

"While (Fox) did the running - and he was a magical guy - the volunteers of the Canadian Cancer Society, the organization, would lay the carpet before him," Sheremeta said. "In other words, they would do the fundraising, they would get the word out, they would help him out. Without them, it would have been really hard for him.

"He didn't have that in Quebec," probably because of bad timing, Sheremeta suggested, because the society had just finished its annual fundraising campaign.

The Quebec sovereignty referendum held just the month before might also have been a factor in the lack of support, he said.

Others said it might just have been the day of the week or the time of day.

But Sheremeta said Quebecers have their own way of commemorating Fox. Quebec municipalities have 10 streets named after Fox; the rest of Canada has six.

"In the last five years, Quebec has been by far the fastest growing part of Canada for the Terry Fox Run," Sheremeta added.

Those who ran with Fox said the young cancer victim never expected to leave such a legacy.

"Oh, heavens no," Sweet said. "I think he just wanted to make the awareness, and if something came, it came."

And come it did. For the 25th anniversary of Fox's Marathon of Hope, more than half the schools across Canada have already registered to organize runs at the same time on the same day, Sheremeta said. In 2004, 51 countries organized runs to raise funds for cancer research.

"That's what blows me away. That's what makes him just so outstanding. And he didn't even know it," Sweet said.

In Sweet's short conversations with Fox - in a room at the Four Seasons, where they dined on burgers and fries, fruit and beer - Fox was nothing but determined, the former Alouette said.

"He was on total mission. He was just so focused," Sweet recounted, noting that all Fox talked about was raising money and awareness.

And the runner showed no signs of the cancer that had been eating away at him.

"He looked fresh as a daisy. That was the incredible part of it," said Gibbons, remembering the "eternally optimistic look" on Fox's face.

The next day, June 23, Fox took the day off (for the first time in 73 days) and toured Montreal.

The city hasn't forgotten him. Nor have those who shared that special day with him 25 years ago.

"It's as though you took part in an event and you didn't really feel the extraordinariness of it at the moment - that you were part of history and you didn't realize it," Gibbons said.

haly@thegazette.canwest.com

- - -

Canadian students take up the torch

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope, thousands of young people across Canada will participate in the Terry Fox National School Run Day. On Sept. 16,

students across the country will run at synchronized start times (noon EST). About 8,000 schools - more than half the schools in Canada - and at least 2 million students have already registered. CBC television and radio will be covering the event live.

To register your school or to get more information, contact the Terry Fox Foundation

toll-free at 1-(888)-836-9786 or visit the Web site www.terryfoxrun.org

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