A new documentary titled Run Terry Run has unveiled its trailer today, offering never-before-seen footage of Terry Fox’s iconic 1980 Marathon of Hope. The documentary, set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), utilized nearly 100 reels of recently discovered archival footage to provide an intimate glimpse into the journey of the British Columbia athlete and cancer research advocate.
In the trailer, viewers are treated to conversations and insights from key figures such as van driver and friend Doug Alward, Terry Fox’s brother Darrell Fox, and Terry Fox himself as he embarked on his ambitious cross-Canada run at the age of 21 to raise funds for cancer research following a leg amputation due to osteogenic sarcoma.
One poignant moment from the trailer captures Fox expressing his thoughts, “I think of home a lot. I think of running into Vancouver … where I’m going to finish on the ocean. To me, I’m happy doing what I’m doing — I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. And so I’m going to keep on going.”
Director Sean Menard from Toronto obtained the raw footage from filmmaker John Simpson, who had documented Fox’s run with multiple camera operators from the East Coast. Despite Simpson’s prior belief that the footage had been discarded, Menard’s dedicated efforts, supported by the Terry Fox Foundation, led to the discovery of the valuable footage in a Toronto storage unit near Menard’s residence.
Menard meticulously restored the film reels to 4K quality and utilized them to craft his documentary, which premiered at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall in the previous year.
According to a review by Canadian Running, the documentary eschews traditional “talking head” interviews and instead incorporates voiceovers from key individuals like Alward, Darrell Fox, Leslie Scrivener (the first journalist to cover the Marathon of Hope), and Darryl Sittler (the former captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs who ran alongside Terry from Scarborough to Nathan Phillips Square).
Canadian director Sean Menard shares how he used never-before-seen video to help tell Terry Fox’s story in a new way, and what audiences can expect from the documentary.
Lasting impact
Terry Fox commenced his marathon on April 12, 1980, three years following his cancer diagnosis. His initial objective was to run from St. John’s to Victoria, covering 5,373 kilometers before halting near Thunder Bay, Ont., due to the cancer spreading to his lungs.
Despite Fox’s passing in 1981, his Marathon of Hope raised over $24 million at the time, equivalent to $1 from each Canadian. Recently, the Terry Fox Foundation announced surpassing $1 billion in funds raised for cancer research.
Fox has been the focal point of several documentaries, including Simpson’s film, 1983’s
