Residents lace-up for annual Terry Fox run in Stoney Creek

The legacy of Terry Fox brought Canadians together once again this year. People laced up their sneakers to take part in the annual Terry Fox runs to raise money for cancer research.

One of the runs in this region took place in Stoney Creek where organizers say there were more than 200 runners, walkers, cyclists and rollerbladers in this one event alone.

“It’s not a big event, there are bigger events in Ontario and in Canada, but we have raised over $370,000 and that makes a difference,” Organizer Laurette Carnegie said.

That’s $370,000 over the years for cancer research, and they expect to add another $12,000 from this year’s run.

Other runs take place around the world.

In all, national run organizers say they’ve raised well over $850 million in the years since Terry Fox’s death in 1981, in what’s become the world’s largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research.

READ MORE: 42nd annual Terry Fox Run back in person after two years

The organizers say people keep turning out for the Terry Fox run year after year.

All in honor of Fox, who launched his Marathon of Hope across Canada after losing a leg to cancer.

The run brings together cancer survivors as well as people running for loved ones lost to cancer, like grandfathers, and fathers like Phil Book who passed away this year.

Phil’s son Brett says the run means the world to him.

“We don’t have an opportunity to run with Dad, but we still feel like he’s here with us,” Brett Book said.

People are still overwhelmed by Terry Fox’s accomplishments.

“I think it’s shown that we kept his memory alive for 43 years and we kept him and what he did as inspiration for all of us,” Event organizer Karla Silvestri said.