`````The buses used to chug up that street. Sometimes, when they were fully loaded, they wouldn't even stop at the final pick-up on the hill. The vehicle was barely making it as it was, and there was a long line of cars behind it. Were it to come to a complete standstill, it most likely would never get going again.
`````Somebody used to run up that hill, though. I went to a university at the top---it was actually defined as a mountain. The view was beautiful on clear days, but it also got lost amongst the clouds. It was much colder up there. There were days when that first intake of air would sting the nostrils when stepping clear from that diesel spewing behemeth.
`````Terry Fox is an alumni of my university and today is the run on his behalf. He didn't want cancer to defeat him. An avid athlete, he fought it with all that he had. With one leg, he tackled that hill and charged up it. The incline was deadly. There were a couple of times I attempted it on a downward trajectory and when I did so, I made sure that the weather was nice. Even then, it took me some time to walk it. I had gravity in my favour. Like so much else, he took that on and ran against it.
`````Terry always made it up that hill, and likewise, inroads are being made into that disease. On a large part, it's due to him. Donations made on his behalf have raised millions of dollars. A disease which was once a death sentence now does not necessarily mean so, especially if caught early and depending which variety one has.
`````He wanted to help others win their battle, and began a run across Canada from east to west. He got up when it was still dark, and ran towards the setting sun at night. Sadly, he did not live to complete the run as his cancer returned.
`````Thanks to people like him, my father beat non-Hodgkins Lymphoma a number of years ago, even though his prognosis had been poor. Terry was always self-effacing and sought only to broadcast his message; it was never about him. For all those out there today, I hope the weather holds out. Think of that hill he did on one leg.
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