WEST CARLETON – Terry Fox didn’t let cancer and a missing leg stop him, and West Carleton Terry Fox Run founder Lynda Cassidy is not going to let a pandemic stop her from hosting the local event’s 10th anniversary.

Terry Fox is a Canadian legend and his will and determination sparked inspiration across the country that in 39 years has raised more than $800 million for cancer research.

Linda Cassidy and her late husband Robert Dupuis are an inspiration to West Carleton as community leaders who founded the West Carleton Terry Fox Run held in Constance Bay each fall for the last nine years.

The pair had stepped back, a bit, from organizing last year assisting new volunteer organizer Mila Dolezalova. Dolezalova moved west recently and is no longer involved with the event.

But Cassidy was not going to let a pandemic and the loss of a key organizer put an end to an event that has raised $65,600 locally for the cause.

Like all Terry Fox Run events being held Sunday, Sept. 20, the West Carleton version will be virtual.

“The West Carleton site was offered the chance to stay online but we required a virtual organizer,” Cassidy told West Carleton Online today (Sept. 14). “A call was put out and just last week Triana Clark-Feller, our warm-up instructor for our Terry Fox Runs, has offered to help me.”

Cassidy says, despite the virtual nature of this year’s event, this year’s edition of the Terry Fox Run will have significant meaning for her.

“I am participating this year in memory of my husband Robert Dupuis, April 1936 – July 2020,” Cassidy said. “When Robert and I organized the first run in 2011, our goal was to keep the Marathon of Hope going for 10 years, which would have brought us to the 40th Anniversary of the Terry Fox Run, 2020.”

The Virtual Terry Fox Run is on Sept. 20 and to donate, what you can, go to the West Carleton link below or register online at to raise pledges if you wish.

“I am hoping you will still support the West Carleton Terry Fox Run this year in memory of Robert,” Cassidy said. “He put his heart and soul into making this the success it was. Our little run made over $65,600 in nine years.”