CALGARY- A smooth start to the Terry Fox Run Sunday, more than 15,000 participants gathered at Eau Claire.
Many had their own connection to the cause, like Debraless Fernets from the Canadian Liver Foundation.
“I lost my dad to cancer in 1984 and there was no cancer awareness then. Nobody knew what it was. I credit Terry Fox for the awareness he raised for all cancers,” Fernets said.
The 34th annual event is one of several fundraisers dealt with uncertainty this weekend after Calgary’s summer snowstorm.
On Thursday the city announced that some events would need to be relocated or cancelled due to safety concerns.
“With the tree debris and everything that was going down around the city, the snow that was making the branches fall, we were a little worried about that,” said Danielle Van Camp, an organizer for the Terry Fox Run.
“We of course had the city come down yesterday though and sweep the paths with us and give us the go ahead,” Van Camp said.
In other cases, the runners work around the debris. At Telus Park, the route is altered so the event can still take place.
Emily Sztabzyb participated in the run and said she’s really happy they found a way to make it happen.
“People train so hard for these things and they get so excited as do their families,” Sztabzyb said.
Spirits were high at Carma House. The snowstorm actually worked in its favour, with organizers forced to move their activities closer to the resource centre.
“In the bigger scheme of things it’s probably the better choice anyways because here people can see where their dollars are going and tell one of their friends with cancer what they can get here and how great it is,” said Susan Valenta with Wellspring Calgary.
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