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For many, the Terry Fox run in the Langleys was very personal

Walnut Grove, Langley City and Aldergrove events raise money for cancer research
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The Terry Fox run gets underway in Walnut Grove.

Chris Theeparajah, his wife Karyn and their son Carter arrived at the Walnut Grove community centre in Langley Township this morning with a donation of $1,050 for the Terry Fox run.

The Langley residents were part of a team, "Di's Dynamos Volume Three,"  that raised the money in the memory of Diana Leung.

"She was the wife of one of my groomsmen, and she passed away from cancer about three years ago," Theeparajah explained.

It was a welcome addition to the donations at the Walnut Grover location, which had already received $2,600 in pledges before the Theeparajahs showed up.

About 100 people took part in the Walnut Grove Terry Fox run, one of three held in the Langleys.

The others were held in Langley City and Aldergrove.

Like the Theeparajahs, the Cowie family, Rich and Ramona, had a very personal reason for participating Sunday.

"This is our 25th year (of taking part in the run)," Rich Cowie explained.

It was 25 years ago that their son Nigel was diagnosed with cancer.

As they spoke to a Times reporter, Nigel, an athletic-looking man in his mid-twenties approached to check on his dog, a sociable ridgeback that his father had on a leash.

"My son is a survivor," Cowie said.

It was also a personal issue for Walnut Grove run organizer Midori Turner, a volunteer with the Rotary Club of Langley Sunrise.

"I have people in my life fighting the battle (with cancer) now," she said.

Turner said the turnout was about the same as last year.

M.C. Jeff Morfitt described the annual run, now in its 36th year, as the "world's largest one-day fund-raiser for cancer research."

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Family at run

Chris Theeparajah, his wife Karyn and their son Carter await the start of the Terry Fox run. Dan Ferguson/Langley Times

Sunshine draws crowd to Langley City event – and keeps them there

When Marg McGuire-Grout climbed out of bed, some time around 5:30 Sunday morning, the first thing she did was step out her back door and look up, way up.

She caught the twinkle of a single star in the pre-dawn sky and smiled.

This year, it seemed, the weather would be much finer than it was when McGuire-Grout took over as organizer of the Langley City Terry Fox Run last year. That one took place in the pouring rain.

“The weather was great, we really lucked out,” she said on Monday.

The sunshine and pleasant temperatures not only drew 235 participants — more than in 2015 — but encouraged more people to stick around afterward to listen to live music from the Lounge Bros. and eat hotdogs and hamburgers, grilled by Langley City firefighters.

“There were lots of kids, lots of dogs,” said McGuire-Grout.

This year’s participants included several teams — among them cancer survivors and people currently battling the disease.

“We had people in wheelchairs, people with prosthetics.

“We even had a father and son on unicycles,” she said.

During Sunday’s event, McGuire-Grout also announced that beginning next year, as part of an annual ceremony, one volunteer will be presented with a plaque in memory of Dave Hall.

The former City council member, who passed away from cancer in January, was a big supporter of the annual Terry Fox Run in Langley City.

“We thought it would be a nice way to remember him,” said McGuire-Grout.

“The Hall family was there for the event. They were really pleased. They were always involved (in the Terry Fox Run) as a family.”

This year’s event has so far raised $10,600 for cancer research, but McGuire-Grout expects that number to climb as online donations continue to trickle in.



Dan Ferguson

About the Author: Dan Ferguson

Best recognized for my resemblance to St. Nick, I’m the guy you’ll often see out at community events and happenings around town.
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