Technolandy

Day 12 (of 2025/26) #TerryFox prelude

This year we are starting something a bit different… I have been bringing some some ‘online assemblies’ for our broader community that spreads out all across British Columbia – which have been ‘good’ at drawing some people in to form a shared experience… but we also know more have been interested but for a variety of reasons have avoided logging in for the ‘live’ experience. So this year, we are leaning into this to see how much ‘participation’ there is when we offer an asynchronous event. The first one this year honours the legacy of Terry Fox.

Here’s the link if you want to check it out: https://youtu.be/Xdkx34d-SO8?si=eo_DjpjDjyWoYCuW

I can still remember the memory of taking part in the first Terry Fox Run. It was a grand event in our little town on the Fraser River… most of us had slowly become aware of the cross country Marathon of Hope through evening news broadcasts… an early 80s version of going viral… we all knew who he was, what he was doing, and most importantly: why. It felt like it would be an amazing ‘movie of the week’ (that was once a thing….) until it didn’t have a happy ending. Terry didn’t finish his coast to coast odyssey, but that only seemed to invigorate many who had never even met him.

The Marathon of Hope continued to grow… across the country and into other nations. His story and his ‘why’ connecting with so many… his journey inspired many others who would take on long treks – Steve Fonyo’s coast to coast trek… and then a complicated legacy of his own… Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion wheelchair trek around the world…  and a great soundtrack… 

https://youtu.be/69mRJAGU_Lg?si=b-FG33rCGsOZEARV

More surprisingly to me has been the staying power of this annual event. I kinda thought it would die out after I graduated high school… but as a teacher, I loved to see how infectious this ongoing event became with young Canadians. Someone doing something difficult… hinting that it’s kinda fun to do the impossible… marvelling at anybody who could run a marathon every. single. day. 

The broader tradition of turning personal adversity into public advocacy is compelling. Which is why this year’s theme “Finish It” is apt. Are we in the final stretches to ending cancer? Or does this help finish solidifying this tradition as an annual event to honour a young adult who helped unify a nation from coast to coast? Or, once my generation of educators ages out (again, I was one of the youngest in my school to do the first run.. don’t do the math!!)