A sunny Terry Fox Run in Tillsonburg
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The sun was shining Sunday morning for the annual Terry Fox Run in Tillsonburg.
"I'm so glad the weather cleared up for us," said coordinator Anne Ploss, who began watching long-range forecasts around the end of August.
"In my eight of organizing, it has never rained on Terry Fox Day, so I was still confident it wouldn't today," she said with a smile.
Even on Saturday when it rained... and rained... and rained.
"Yes I was," she laughed, "because by then I was watching the hourly forecasts. I knew that by 4 o'clock it would stop."
On the day of the Terry Fox Run, Ploss typically starts putting signs up around 5 a.m.
"It was very foggy and very wet."
But it cleared up nicely by the time 140 people had gathered for a 10:30 start from the Cardio Plus parking lot on Broadway.
"It looks like we have lots of bikers, lots of kids this time," said Ploss after the parking lot had emptied. "We always do - but it almost seems like more children."
Participants could choose between 3 km, 5 km, and 10 km routes - running, walking, cycling, blading or wheeling any of the three. Some ran 3 km, some walked 10 - finishing around 1 p.m. - and just about every variation in between.
There was also a healthy number of runners, she noted, a number that has grown over the years.
"Because Tillsonburg's running community is building. More and more people are taking an interest in running... running and biking. We do try to reach out to that group because it's nice for that group to do an event that is local."
That includes Sole Mates, which has about 100 members on their Facebook group, including about 40 that are usually involved in their events.
"We have a nice core of runners," said Ploss.
Ploss had a number of volunteers she wanted to thank Sunday including Shelley Imbeault, Jason Weiler, Shelley Klassen, Debbie, and her sister Sue Healey, and Sandi and Rick Beernaert, Reid Ploss Productions, and more.
In total approximately $15,400 was raised at the Tillsonburg Terry Fox Run, which thrilled Ploss.
After completing their 3/5/10 km route, participants returned for refreshments - fruit, juice or water - and free pizza from Domino's, who annually supply up to 20 pizzas for the Terry Fox Run.