The annual Terry Fox Run in Olds, which raises money for cancer research, takes place this Sunday, Sept. 15.
There are a couple of changes this year, organizer Noel D'arcy says.
For one thing, the start and finish has changed.
Both the 10-kilometre (K) and five-K runs now begin and end at the Olds Fire Hall, instead of Centennial Park, where they have started and ended for years.
That only made sense, says D'arcy, an Olds volunteer firefighter.
"In previous years, we had to get a lot of equipment and stuff down to Centennial. So we had to blow up start/finish lines, stuff like that, and we had the barbecue. So we were trying to load all that into a pickup, get it over to Centennial. It took a lot of manpower and effort of our volunteers to do that," he says.
"So I'm like, we run by the fire hall anyway. Why not this year have it start and finish at the fire hall? Our volunteers simply have to show up at the fire hall, the stuff is already there, set it up right there. There's no transporting of equipment from the fire hall to Centennial."
Also, the start time for both runs is now an hour earlier, 10 a.m. instead of 11 a.m. Registration is now 9 a.m.
The barbecue will still be held as well, only it will now begin at around 11 a.m. instead of 12 noon.
D'arcy says those changes were made to better accommodate participants and volunteers.
"In previous years I've talked to people who go to church at around noon and stuff like that and they said one of the things that was holding them back was that they were going to go to church and it was right around the time they were going to church," he says.
There will also be slight changes to the 10-K and five-K routes. D'arcy recommends going on his Olds Terry Fox Run Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Charity-Organization/Olds-Fire-Department-Terry-Fox-Run-234166504096002/) for updates.
It's been a wet summer, but D'arcy says this year's Terry Fox Run will go ahead, regardless of the weather on Sunday.
"Last year there was debate, as the weather was bad, but I made a judgement call and went ahead with it," he says.
"The feedback that I got from the regular Terry Fox annual runners was that they were glad it went ahead. So unless it's an absolute hurricane, it will go ahead."
D'arcy stresses that although it's known as the Terry Fox "run" people don't necessarily have to run in it to participate.
"Bikes are allowed, Rollerblades, whatever," he says, noting participants can also walk.
"It's non-competitive. It's not an Olympic qualifier or anything. We're just out there to get out for a Sunday morning run and hopefully raise some money at the same time."
"If people don't want to run, they can definitely show up for the barbecue," he says. "Come and hang out. If they want to have a look at the firetrucks while they're at the hall, we'll have the door at the hall open. There'll be lots of firefighters there to show them around if they want to have a look.
D'arcy is aware times are tough, so he's encouraging people to give whatever they can.
"The economy right now you know is not the greatest, and I totally understand, right? It's not within people's means to donate.
"But we do encourage people still just to come out. If you want to come and just throw in a toonie as a donation, it helps. There's no minimum or maximum that can be donated," he says. "We have people come and donate $500, we have people come and donate five bucks. It all makes a difference, right?"
D'arcy is grateful to Shoppers Drug Mart which donates food for the event every year.
