Bob and Nancy Adkins are no strangers to the Terry Fox Run, but this year’s event in Winnipeg is special.
It’s the first time the couple is walking in honour of their son, Mark Adkins.
A lawyer from New York, Mark told his parents he had pancreatic cancer on Oct. 30, 2017.
He passed away on May 11, 2018 at 43 years old.
Both Bob and Nancy said their son, along with his wife and two children, were always big supporters of Terry Fox and the Marathon of Hope, even before his diagnosis.
“Well, he started running it in kindergarten, and then he just sort of continued on, and he was involved in the Canadian club in New York,” Nancy explained.
“They were supporting the Terry Fox Run in New York, which was something very important to their family, and we wanted to do something for him. We thought this would be a wonderful thing to do,” Bob said.
It was actually their 13-year-old grandson Jake’s idea to honour Mark at the Winnipeg event.
Word quickly spread, and on Sunday close to 150 family members and friends came together and laced up their sneakers to form “Team Mark.”
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“It’s very nice. We’ve probably run out of shirts but that’s OK,” Nancy said. “We know that fundraising is the most important thing. We need more money for research, and it’s good to get together.”
Team Mark crushed its goal of raising $25,000.
“The momentum just kind of built and built and built, and I think before we knew it the number of funds was $32,000,” Mark’s brother, Matthew, said. “Although I’m not totally shocked we were able to do that, I’m certainly overjoyed and felt all the love.”
The Adkins said the outpouring of support was overwhelming, and it gives them hope that a cure for cancer can be found.
It’s the same hope they said Mark had.
“He kept saying there’s always hope,” Bob recalled. “Mark was always thinking there’s new tests all the time, there’s new things that they’re doing, and so he kept saying ‘I know things don’t look good but they’ll be OK.'”
As the Adkins crossed the finish line Sunday, it was just the beginning.
Not only will their son’s legacy live on in Winnipeg, but the family is also travelling to New York next month to take part in that city’s Terry Fox Run and continue to honour their son.
More than a thousand Winnipeggers took part in the Terry Fox Run. Officials said at race time that online donations were at $50,000.
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