Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope commemorated in N.B. corn maze
The maze opens in September and runs until Halloween
For 17 years, Hunter Brothers Farm in Florenceville-Bristol, N.B., has created massive corn field mazes, and this season's may be the most impressive.
From the air, the giant crop shows the form of Terry Fox on his Marathon of Hope, celebrating the 35th anniversary of the historic run.
Chip Hunter says forming the 2.5-hectare corn maze took more than a year of planning.
"We decided to pay tribute to the 35th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope, and because he ran by our house and we met him," he said.
Fox, who was born in Winnipeg and moved to British Columbia with his family when he was 10, lost his right leg to cancer when he was 19.
In April 1980, Fox set out on his Marathon of Hope, leaving St. John's with a goal of running across Canada on his artificial leg to raise money for cancer research and awareness.
Fox made it as far as Thunder Bay, Ont., by September, when chest pain forced him to stop and call off the remainder of the run.
Fox died in 1981, but millions of dollars have since been raised for cancer research in annual Terry Fox Runs across the country.
'Inspiration and perspiration'
The farm has partnered with the Terry Fox Foundation. The annual maze is opening in mid-September, later than it has in the past, due to slow growing conditions this summer. Nonetheless, farmer Shelley Hunter says it has been worth it.
"The first thing it takes is inspiration and the second thing is perspiration. So the inspiration part, we like to keep a Canadian theme if we can and we also like to make it educational," he said.
The maze, which opens in Florenceville-Bristol on Sept. 15 until Halloween, will also serve as a scavenger hunt. Trivia questions about Terry Fox will lead visitors to the end.