The Marathon of HOPE

January 14, 2016

Terry Fox is one of the most famous athletes in Canadian history, and he wasn’t even a hockey player. That’s saying something.

After the British Columbia native lost his right leg to cancer in 1977 he decided that, if he was going to go on living, he was going to make a difference. So in 1980, Fox began what he called his Marathon of Hope—an attempt to raise money and awareness for cancer research by running all the way across Canada, 26 miles every day. Unfortunately, his cancer spread to his lungs, which forced Fox to suspect his Marathon of Hope after 143 days and 3,339 miles—but not before he inspired an entire country and became a national hero whose name is as well-known as Wayne Gretzky.

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