The programme of the 19th edition of this humanitarian campaign was outlined at a news conference in Zagreb on Tuesday by Canadian Ambassador Daniel Maksymiuk, the Croatian Cancer League head, Damir Eljuga and Sonja Levant of th RBI institute as well as local authorities.
This non-competitive event takes place every year in honour of a young Canadian, Terry Fox, who lost a leg to cancer. In an effort to raise money for cancer treatment, in 1980 he embarked on a run across Canada, which he called the Marathon of Hope. He ran 143 days, covering 42 km a day, but failed to finish the run because the disease came back, claiming his life at 22. In his memory, the Fox family launched a drive to raise money for the fight against cancer, which is held every year in Canada and over 60 countries across the world, including Croatia.
The Canadian Ambassador said today that so far over 650 million dollars had been raised during Terry Fox Run campaigns.
Last year, close to HRK 230,000 (approx. EUR 30,666) was collected during the Terry Fox Run and the funds were donated to the RBI for breast cancer and leukemia research projects.