Inuvik resident Trudy Marks has participated in every Terry Fox Run since 1981.
Samantha McKay/NNSL photo
"I first ran when I was living in Alberta … and my first run in Inuvik was when I moved here in 1995," said Marks. "It keeps me young, it keeps me going."
Marks, who is 73 years old, said she encourages everyone who can to participate in the run because you shouldn't take your health for granted.
"You never know what can happen to you and your health," she said. "If you do one kilometre, two or five, it doesn't matter. As long as you do a little bit, it doesn't matter how long it takes!"
Marks said she also makes a donation every year to the cause and will continue to participate in the run for as long as she can.
"I will keep doing it as long as I am able to," said Marks.
The Terry Fox Run is an annual event held in honour of Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope, which was the 22-year-old man's fundraising run across Canada in 1980 to raise money for cancer research.
Fox's marathon ended early in Northern Ontario, but nonetheless managed to raise more than $10 million for cancer research.
Natasha Kulikowski has been co-organizing the Inuvik Terry Fox Run with Patricia Davison since 2009.
Kulikowski said she participates and organizes the run because many people in her life have been touched by cancer.
"Personally, I've had a lot of people in my life touched by cancer, or I've lost them to cancer. Both of my grandfathers died from different types of cancer," said Kulikowski. "I think that Terry's goal is very important and being able to continue it after 30-something years is really important to me. He's a great Canadian hero and raising funds for cancer research in his name is very important to me as a Canadian."
This year's Inuvik run saw approximately 60 participants, including some of the firefighters, who ran in full bunker gear for the second year in a row.
Kulikowski said this year's run only had a 2.5 km option and a 5 km option due to the construction taking place on Airport Road, preventing a 10 km run from being feasible.
She said the fundraiser went well.
"We couldn't have had better weather for today … we've had some very snowy and wet runs in the past so it's nice to have a sunny day with a light breeze," she said. "Thank you on behalf of the organizers to all of the participants who came out, and to the town for letting us hold the event here, and to the RCMP for leading us out. We had a really good run today!"