Terry+Fox+Article

//*** TAKEN FROM GLOBE AND MAIL NEWSPAPER **// September 20, 2010 Terry Fox and the marathons yet to come From Tuesday's Globe and Mail //What Terry Fox gave to Canada's children, and the world's, is as impressive as the $553-million raised in his name for cancer research. He gave children an enduring figure of inspiration. // What Terry Fox gave to Canada's children, and the world's, is as impressive as the $553-million raised in his name for cancer research. He gave children an enduring figure of inspiration. His run, a marathon a day for an astounding 143 days, which ended 30 years ago this month when his cancer returned, offers many practical lessons. The first lesson is to have a bullheaded belief in oneself. His mother, Betty, thought the 21-year-old's idea was "stupid." It was dangerous to be running on the highway. It would be bad for his health. He did it, anyway. (Adults tend to offer this lesson up in theory and ask their children to retreat from it in practice.) The second lesson is a practical one in how to achieve one's goals, no matter how large they are. "I set a thousand goals today," he said one day during his run. He meant that he took things one tree, one road sign and one day at a time. "It would be impossible to take it all at once." The seemingly impossible was built on a thousand small tasks. The third lesson is to have a purpose larger than oneself. Mr. Fox felt that Canada was not contributing enough to cancer research. Any research done with the money he raised while he ran could not possibly have benefited himself. He ran 5,373 kilometres, from St. John's to just outside Thunder Bay; the larger purpose was his fuel. The fourth lesson is in overcoming pain, or any large obstacle to meeting one's goals. Mr. Fox did not walk his 26 miles a day; he ran them, on one good leg and a prosthetic one, and the pain was acute throughout. Lessons one, two and three are a partial help in explaining how he did it. Lesson four, though, is really about the power of grit, determination and courage. The fifth lesson is that no foe is too big to fight. Mr. Fox's dream was to raise $1 for every Canadian (there were then 24 million Canadians). His larger dream was that research could beat cancer. Some young people are brave enough to stand up to a schoolyard bully. He fought the biggest bully of them all. Research hasn't won yet, but it has landed many solid punches. The sixth lesson is that anyone who subscribes to the first five lessons can do it. Terry Fox was what people sometimes call, clumsily, an ordinary Canadian. He was not rich; his parents were not famous. In all children lives the possibility of a marathon of hope no one else has dreamed of.