Thousands of runners Saturday participated in the annual Terry Fox marathon throughout Cuba to commemorate the death of the Canadian young man and raise money for cancer research.

The race named the Marathon of Hope is also held in over 50 countries including Canada each year.

Eighteen-year-old Canadian Terry Fox, despite his amputated leg because of cancer, decided to start in 1980 the race around his country and collected fund for preventing and fighting cancer.

After running 3,338,63 miles and collecting 24 million U.S. dollars, Fox was hospitalized due to the metastasis which had reached his lungs, and died 10 months later, days before turning 23.

Cuba first joined the marathon in 1998.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Cuba with a total of 20,000 fatalities each year.