GUELPH POLITICAST #432 – Born to Run the Run (feat. David Picard)

Guelph Politicast

The first Terry Fox Run took place in 1981, just a few months after the young man it’s named after passed away, and a little over a year after his Marathon of Hope came to an abrupt end. Over the last 43 years, millions and millions of dollars have been raised for cancer research, including over $1 million from Guelph alone, and all of this was done through the power of some very passionate volunteers. This is the story of one of them.

Tuesday July 22, 1980 was “Terry Fox Day” in Guelph, it was the day that the man himself passed through the Royal City while on his Marathon. He ran through town, stopped at city hall and was welcomed by Mayor Norm Jary and other dignitaries, and then continued on his way down the road to Halton Hills. It was a little over a month later when Terry called it quits, though not by choice.

One of the people inspired by Terry’s run was David Picard, and he started running too. He organized a run at the Ontario Reformatory where he worked, and then when the OR closed he started organizing the city run. The passion is still there after over 40 years, but Picard is now passing the torch to someone new with this year’s Terry Fox Run, but today he’s making a pit stop on this podcast.

Picard joins us to talk about his history with the Terry Fox Run, why he’s stayed with it all this time, and why he’s now ready to hand off the reins to someone new. We will also talk about his collection of memorabilia, and Picard’s experience following in Terry Fox’s footsteps. After that, he will discuss the ins and outs of organizing the Terry Fox Run, the outsized roles that school students play in its success, and why the community keeps coming out year after year.

So let's run for a good cause on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!

This year’s Terry Fox Run will take place on Sunday September 15 at Silvercreek Park at the corner of Wellington and Edinburgh. You can sign up to take part in the Terry Fox Run at the website for the Terry Fox Foundation, and you can follow the Guelph organizers on Instagram. If you have any questions about the run you can send to Theresa McGeragle at terryfoxrunguelph [at] gmail.com.

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