April 12th, 1980: Terry Fox Began the Marathon of Hope

April 12th is a significant date in the Canadian calendar. It's the day that Terry Fox began his Marathon of Hope, in 1980.

Terry rose before dawn each day to run 42 kilometers -- running through spring storms in Newfoundland, and scorching heat in Ontario. Very few people attended the start of the 21-year-old’s Marathon of Hope. However, on September 1st, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres, Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario because cancer had appeared in his lungs. His legacy lives on today through the Terry Fox Foundation.

Today we are reflecting on that epic day, with our special guest, Terry Fox's brother, Fred Fox.

Golden West On-air Host Jayme Giesbrecht spoke with Fred, and started with a lookback at the 42 years that have gone by.

There's a lot we can learn from Terry's Marathon of Hope, as the message goes far beyond the fitness aspect of running that far. The words "I'm not a quitter" have become a slogan for the Terry Fox Foundation. To order your t-shirt, register for September's Terry Fox runs in your community, or look back on the timeline of the very first Marathon of Hope in 1980, visit: www.shop.terryfox.org