VietNamNet Bridge – The 2016 Terry Fox Run (TFR) will come back in its 20th edition at Tan Trao Street in Phu My Hung Urban Zone in HCMC’s District 7 at 8 a.m. on November 27.

Representatives from the 2016 Terry Fox Run’s organizing committee announce the 2016 Terry Fox Run T-shirt to mark the 20th anniversary of the run in Vietnam – Photo: Courtesy of Organizers

The 5km run, walk, wheel or ride is calling on participants to come together to raise awareness on, and to donate funds for cancer research. According CanCham Vietnam, 100% of all funds raised will stay in Vietnam for use on cancer research projects in Vietnam. There are no administration fees to the run.

Companies and schools may register directly with CanCham Vietnam at terryfox@canchamvietnam.org or by visiting TerryFox-vn.org. There are official TFR shirts available at VND200,000 for an individual and VND250,000 for a team shirt until Nov. 5.

Last year’s event helped raise VND2.1 billion from over 15,000 participants. The TFR Vietnam is the 3rd largest TFR in the world. The organizer, the Canadian consulate general in HCMC, is currently utilizing funds on an oral cancer research project, and they will announce an important new project in mid-November.

Terry Fox grew up near Vancouver, British Columbia on Canada’s west coast. As an active teenager involved in many sports, Terry was only 18 years old when he was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) and forced to have his right leg amputated 15 centimeters above the knee in 1977.

While in hospital, Terry was so overcome by the suffering of other cancer patients, many of them young children, that he decided to run across Canada from coast to coast to raise money for cancer research. He called his journey the Marathon of Hope. Terry Fox ran almost 42 kilometers a day through eastern Canada, Quebec and Ontario. However, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometers, Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario because his cancer had returned. Terry passed away on June 28, 1981 at the age 22.

The Terry Fox Run is no longer just a Canadian tradition – it is actively organized in more than 30 countries around the world, and in thousands of locations in Canada and the U.S.  To date, over US$700 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry’s name.

On-site registration of the run begins at 7 a.m. For more information, visit http://terryfox-vn.org.

SGT