A wave of blue and red T-shirts at Simcoe Park Sunday morning, from the corner entrance and down the hill to the bandshell, broadcast the message of this year’s run: No Matter What.
The Terry Fox quote that best explains the theme of this year’s run: “I’ve said to people before that I’m going to do my very best to make it, I’m not going to give up. But I might not make it... if I don’t, the Marathon of Hope better continue.” No matter what.
And continue it did Sunday morning, when Niagara-on-the-Lake joined almost 600 communities across Canada fundraising for cancer research. About 250 people registered to take part in the local event, walking running, cycling and in some cases riding in wheelchairs, raising money to help cure cancer in the name of Terry Fox.
“No matter how many people were cheering him on,” said organizer Joan King of Terry’s 1980 Marathon of Hope that took him as far as Thunder Bay, “or if he was running alone, he persevered, through all kinds of weather, to raise money for cancer.”
Dave Eke was at the run with his daughter Sarah Pillitteri, his son-in-law Mike Pillitteri and their children, Lucas, Leo and Sophia, and spoke to the crowd of his wife Debbie, who passed away from cancer last October.
This year’s run was being held in Debbie's honour, recognizing her as a valuable community member who did so much for others, including fundraising for the Canadian Cancer Society and volunteering for the day program at Hospice Niagara for 20 years.
She gave many hours of her time “making the world a better place,” Eke said from the Simcoe Park bandshell, thanking everyone on behalf of his family for honouring Debbie and coming out for the run.
“I know all the people standing in front of us have lost loved ones,” he said to the crowd gathered before him, “and today is your day to honour them, your loved ones and friends.”
Debbie wouldn’t want the day to be about her, he said. “She would want it to be about you, and the people you’ve lost.”
Eke went on to talk about Terry Fox, “a great man who suffered through his cancer and made a pact with himself that he would find a cure. He came up with a plan, his Marathon of Hope,” which meant running for the eastern tip of Canada to the western shore, “however he only made it to Northern Ontario, when his cancer returned.”
Little did Fox know “the dedication of Canadians, and how proud they are of him. He won the hearts and minds of people who remember him, and who said ‘his journey is not going to stop.’ Thank you for coming, and thank you for supporting Terry Fox.”
Mike Pillitteri, who has been part of Team Pillsy with his cousin Joe Pillitteri from the beginning, also spoke, telling the crowd how much he appreciates the support from the community. He reiterated their goal of raising $1.5 million for the Terry Foundation by 2025, beginning with the first Team Pillsy run in 2011.
He called it “a great honour” to be running for Debbie, adding “we’ll run extra hard for her today.”
King said Wednesday the NOTL run raised “about $65,000 and counting.” This includes what was collected at Simcoe Park, the sale of T-shirts, what kids collected at stores the day of the event, and from a fundraiser held at Pleasant Manor last week.
It does not include what will be raised at the always-successful Joe Pillitteri Comedy night, which is added to the Team Pillsy donation. That is to be held Friday — it sold out pretty much the day the tickets went on sale — and will donate a significant amount when added to this year’s run total for NOTL.
Juliet Dunn led the warmup before the run from the bandshell, and then typically would give the microphone to Joe Pillitteri, who was not able to attend this year’s run.
He was in Santa Rosa, California, on a business trip with his wife Rebecca Hagman, who joined him on a run a couple of hours after NOTL’s was held, using a track made available to them by the Santa Rosa Junior College. “We’ve seen all the photos from NOTL,” he said in a video posted on Facebook Sunday morning, and “I'm devasted not to be there with all my family," but “totally pumped” to do his own Terry Fox run.
When it was time to start the local run, Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa, cycling with his wife Tammy, led the crowd to the corner of Queen and King Street, and headed along King with participants who made their way back to the Niagara River Parkway, and then returned to the park for free pizza donated by Sandtrap Pub and Grill.
