The Rotary Club of Madras East, Rotary International District 3230, organises the fourth Terry Fox Run-Chennai on August 26. The runners will assemble at the venue — IIT-Madras campus, where the event will be held between 8 a.m. and 12 noon. There is no registration fee and supporters can donate and/or participate in the free run/walk/bicycle/roller skate.
This time, the event is expected to have more than 7,000 participants. School and college students, employees from corporates and others interested in cancer awareness will run.
What is The Terry Fox Run? It is an annual non-competitive charity event held in more than 600 cities in 53 countries across the globe to raise money for cancer research. Terrance Stanley “Terry” Fox, (July 28, 1958 -June 28, 1981) was a Canadian humanitarian, athlete, and cancer treatment activist. He became famous for the 'Marathon of Hope', a cross-Canada run to raise money for cancer research, which Fox ran with one prosthetic leg. As a tradition, millions of supporters across the globe run for the cause. More information is available on http://www.terryfox.org/
How does Chennai help?: Akash Dube, a 19-year-old cancer survivor with roots in Tamil Nadu, mooted the idea of the run in Chennai to The Rotary Club of Madras East, the IIT-Madras and other organisations in 2009. So far more than 10,000 supporters have participated in the run and a sum of Rs. 50 lakh collected from hundreds of donors was given to the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai — the institution designated by the Terry Fox Foundation for advanced cancer research in the country.
Individuals and/or organisations can assist in any of the following ways to make the run a success and contribute to the cause: monetary donation/sponsorship in kind (T-shirts, caps, water, refreshments for the participants, etc.), publicise the event in their organisation, ensuring a huge turnout at the event, or come up with any other way to support the cause. It is poignant that this year’s Terry Fox Run-Chennai will take place without Akash Dube who succumbed to cancer.
For more information, visit http://www.terryfox.org/Foundation/
Policies.html.
Those interested in participating may visit www.terryfoxrunchennai.in for online registration or call 98407-44381, 98408-19491 or 98402-44225.
