Finding their 'inner Terry': 1,500 join Terry Fox Run in cold, wet weather

It wasn't a safe bet this fall that the Terry Fox Run would draw the same crowds as usual in Edmonton.

Britt Anderson, executive director of the Terry Fox Foundation, believes the Canadian hero remains a strong inspiration.

"I think that people find that inner Terry and they come out to an event like this," Anderson said Sunday at Kinsmen Park.

"He never stopped. If it was rainy, snowy or windy, he continued on."

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Anderson estimates about 1,500 people came out for the fundraiser despite Edmonton's unseasonably cold and rainy weather.

Darrin Park, organizer of the Edmonton event, was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour — he's only the fourth person in  Alberta to have a similar kind. 

He was told he may live another 11 months.

"It's been six years," he said at the run Sunday. "I owe that to Terry Fox, and everybody who participates in Terry Fox runs."

He said he was part of two research projects that helped him through the treatment.

Park has faith that the event will endure.

"I only see it getting stronger," he said of the Marathon of Hope.

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It is also the first time the Alberta government has declared Sept. 16 Terry Fox Day in Alberta. Health Minister Sarah Hoffman was at the start of the Edmonton Run to make the official declaration.

Anderson said the foundation expects to raise $30 million from across the country this year.

Anderson said 40 years ago, the survival rate for young people with cancer was 25 to 30 per cent. He said it's now over 80 per cent.