Terry Fox Run jogs to another success for 2026

October 1, 2026

By Michael Riley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The 46th annual Terry Fox Run was held in Bancroft this past weekend, at the Bancroft Ridge Golf Course from 9 a.m. to noon. It’s held annually and is a non-competitive fundraising event held in Canada and internationally to raise money for cancer research. The run memorializes Fox, a Canadian athlete and cancer research activist who ran across Canada in 1980 to raise money for cancer research, despite having lost a leg to cancer. He tragically passed away from this terrible disease during this Cross-Canada Marathon of Hope. For more information on the run, check out www.terryfox.org.

The statistics showcasing the impact of the nearly $1 billion raised for the Terry Fox Foundation over the last 46 years for cancer research is impressive; 94 per cent of children diagnosed with childhood cancers expected to be alive five years after diagnosis, 50 to 90 per cent of targeted therapies have helped nearly double the five year survival rate for melanoma, over 80 per cent is now the five year survival rate for certain cancers like breast, prostate, melanoma, thyroid, testis, and Hodgkins Lymphoma, cancer mortality rates are down 37 per cent for men and 22 per cent for women since 1988, the average survival rates for all cancers combined has increased from 25 per cent in the 1940s to over 60 per cent today (and up to 90 per cent in some cases),

Last year alone, nationally $11.5 million was raised and about $16,000 was raised in Bancroft. Over the past 30 years, Bancroft has raised nearly $400,000, all of it going to cancer research, and the Town of Bancroft recently proclaimed Sept. 20 Terry Fox Day. The year before saw nearly $44 million raised across Canada, which went toward 176 projects conducted by nearly 600 of Canada’s leading cancer specialists.

As Terry Fox said back in 1980, “even if I don’t finish, we need others to continue. It’s got to keep going without me.”

In another bit of great news to keep Fox’s memory alive, Canada is putting the iconic runner on its next $5 bank note. The Bank of Canada confirmed it a couple of weeks ago, and the new polymer note will be predominantly blue and use the vertical format of the new bills being issued. Fox was selected after a national nomination and advisory process, with a list of over 600 nominees being narrowed down to eight before the final decision was made by the Minister of Finance at the end of 2024. While still being developed, it is slated to appear sometime after the new vertical $20 bill which is scheduled to appear early next year.

This year’s race was well attended as usual at the Bancroft Ridge Golf Course, with the runners beginning their race at 9 a.m. and scores of spectators lined up to watch and cheer them on.

Organizer David Coulas said that the great thing about an event like this is that it’s only possible with the help of volunteers, on run day and before and after the event, including some youth who participate.

“We have folks that have a tonne of experience, they do it year after year and they do it without reservation. The other thing is, everybody I talk to, whether it’s the Town of Bancroft, businesses, sponsorships, everybody’s just super supportive of Terry Fox. Because it’s such an iconic Canadian hero. It touches everybody, everybody’s touched by cancer. I know my family has been, everybody I talk to always has a story,” he says.

Caroline Stapley says she’s walked the Terry Fox Run for 42 years and has volunteered for a few years since Coulas took over organizing the event.

“It’s a cause that I’m very passionate about and I actually walked with Terry. I was in the OR and we had worked all night and the subway wasn’t running and a group of people were walking with him between Parry Sound and Pointe au Baril and I caught up with him and walked there. He was a wonderful person, the whole family were very devoted. And then I’ve had a couple of friends unfortunately that have had the same kind of bone cancer and that’s hard, so it really is a passion and a cause. Hopefully I’ll be able to continue this. My goal is to have 50 years. I’m not that far away,” she says.

Please check out our photo spread for the Terry Fox Run in this edition of the paper, on page 9, and the article that will appear next week with updated information on the run from organizers, including final totals raised.