John Hopkins doesn’t have a lot of red in his wardrobe of clothes. But on Sept. 20, he will be wearing the colour with a mixture of reverence and pride as he takes part in the 35th annual Terry Fox Run at Garry Point Park.
This year’s event takes on double meaning for the 75-year-old Richmond resident because it’s a way of honouring his late wife, Helen, a nurse who died of cancer in early 2012. Plus, Hopkins, who himself was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer, underwent an operation in July and will be taking part in the event as a cancer survivor — a status that allows him to don a red Terry Fox Run T-shirt and take part.
Together, the couple had a long association with the run, volunteering their time as local organizers.
Hopkins still remembers the impact of seeing Fox on TV when he started his Marathon of Hope.
“Like most Canadians, I was captivated by this young man who was trying to run across Canada on one leg,” Hopkins said. “Everyday, he’d run a marathon. I was amazed that someone would attempt this.
“Everyday, he’d run a marathon. I was amazed that someone would attempt this. No one had even tried to do this on two legs.
“And his efforts have united Canada with so many runs done in his name. To me, it’s a perfect fundraising effort to get involved in.”
Hopkins, who spent much of his working life with with non-profit groups, also appreciated the way the run’s were organized and how the money is channeled towards medical research.
But it was Helen, a former head nurse when Richmond General Hospital — as it was first known — opened its doors in 1966, who got the couple involved with fundraising and running on the day.
“My wife was always a rather quiet person,” Hopkins said. “But she was attracted to the run because her mom had passed away from cancer earlier.
“That was Helen’s little point of reference. She wanted to do something in her mom’s honour.”
Hopkins said that in her final run in 2011, Helen was ill, but managed to complete four kilometres.
“It was an important run for her because she wanted to demonstrate to others that she still had some fight in her,” he said. “That was in September. By the the next January, she was gone.”
And now, Hopkins is keeping her spirit alive by continuing to take part.
“It’s much more poignant because I do it for her,” he said, adding it is traditionally a family event with his son and his family joining him.
“It’s something important for us to do together,” he said.
For more information about the Terry Fox Run at Garry Point Park, visit terryfox.org and click on the “find a run site” box. Registration is at 9 a.m. and the run begins at 10 a.m. Participants can choose from a 10 km, 5 km, and 1km route.
