President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and visiting Canadian parliamentarians yesterday braved the rain along with many others to join the Terry Fox charity run in Taipei to raise funds for cancer research.
Despite the occasional showers, thousands of local residents, foreign visitors and expatriates put on their sneakers to take part in the event staged in recognition of Canadian Terry Fox, who had his right leg amputated as a young man due to bone cancer, but still managed to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research before he passed away in 1981 at the age of 22.
The last time the event was held in Taipei was in 2007.
Photo: CNA
The charity run, which includes one 3km route and one 5km route, started off from the University of Taipei campus and circled Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, according to the organizers: the university, the Terry Fox Foundation and a Taipei-based association for sports exchanges.
They added that about 2,000 participants had taken part in the run.
Among them was John Weston, who chairs the Canada-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, and another member of Canada’s House of Commons, Chungsen Leung.
Weston expressed appreciation for Taiwan’s support for the run, while Leung said he was happy to attend.
Ma said the funds raised by the charity runs over the years have played a big role in enhancing medical treatment for bone cancer and improving recovery rates significantly.
On behalf of the foundation, Darrell Fox — Terry Fox’s brother — also came to Taiwan to take part in the run and expressed gratitude for Taiwanese’s support for the campaign.
“Terry showed qualities of perseverance, of hope, of determination and of courage,” he said. “I think these qualities reside here in Taipei and also in Taiwan.”
So far, the runs, which are staged across the world, have raised more than C$650 million (US$571.2 million) for cancer research in Terry Fox’s name, the foundation said.
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