Marathon of Hope The largest Terry Fox run outside of Canada. What a perfect day!

During the weekend of March 20, 2010 the biggest hero in Cuba was Terry Fox. Throngs of Cubans turned out in front of the Capitolio building in downtown Havana to await the stroke of 10 AM for their synchronized start with every other province and city in the country.

This included current Cuban champion track stars Olympic hurdler Dayron Robles and World triple jumper Yargelis Savigne who were front and centre and played gracious hosts for Terry Fox′s run on this day.

I could never have imagined that on my first Cuban Terry Fox Run we would join the rest of the country in welcoming Terry′s mother, father and sister to Havana. Terry′s family were given a welcome befitting the true hero that he was, and it was humbling as a Canadian (where we tend to downplay our best efforts) to see the outpouring of affection for this family who lost so much and have continued to give so generously of themselves. They were celebrated in the Cuban media for the week preceding an event that we began to look forward to more and more as it crept closer.

Now that we were only minutes away from the continuation of Terry′s Marathon of Hope we also could not believe the scale of the celebration in Cuba and how warmly the people here have embraced this Canadian boy who won the hearts, not only of his countrymen, but those of many in other countries as well. With my entire family emblazoned with the Maple Leaf, we were approached time and again by Cubans thanking us for giving them Terry Fox and telling us how much they admired his courage. The word HERO was repeated over and over as my kids talked about their Terry Fox runs at school and their own interest in Terry fed by books, TV and movies.