On April 12, 1980, Terry Fox set out on his Marathon of Hope aiming to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. The 21-year-old had lost his right leg to cancer as a teenager and was determined to turn his experience into hope for others facing the disease.Canadians followed his progress every day on television news broadcasts as he made his way from St. John’s, Nfld., through Atlantic Canada and into Ontario.Unfortunately, after 143 days and more than 5,000 kilometres on the road, his journey was cut short when he learned his cancer had returned and spread to his lungs.Many have heard that story, but what do we actually know about the man himself? A new documentary, titled Run Terry Run, takes viewers onto the road with him. It shows the day-to-day aspects of his journey, humanizing him in a way that has never been seen before. At the same time, it showcases what an incredible role model he was and creates a deeper understanding of just why he has touched our hearts so much.Terry Fox is seen running on the highway during his Marathon of Hope. (Courtesy Elevation Pictures)The striking images from that time show Terry running alone along long stretches of the highway. In reality, he was supported every step of the way by a small team. His best friend, Doug Alward, drove the support van, and Terry’s younger brother, Darrell Fox, was there for the final 93 days of the 143-day journey.CityNews spoke to Darrell, along with the director of the documentary, Sean Menard, to learn more about the making of the film.CityNews: Darrell, Canadians have heard the story of your brother so many times that he has become larger than life. What do you think people still don’t really understand about Terry?Darrell: I’ve shared the story a few times over the years, a few times, a few thousand times. But I never do the story justice, because it was such an experience and such a feeling that I can’t articulate. Run Terry Run does that, because it puts you on the side of the road, like I was in 1980, for 93 days, watching a miracle.It was a miracle what Terry was accomplishing on a day-to-day basis, getting up every morning at 4:30, running all day, 10 to 12 hours a day, and then all the media engagements that he had while trying to engage with Canadians and sharing his story. It was exhausting. I was exhausted, and I was spending the time in the van. I wasn’t running a marathon.(Courtesy: Elevation Pictures)Now, I have Run Terry Run. I can just point people to Run Terry Run, and they’ll get a sense and a feeling of what happened in 1980. Everyone has an understanding of who Terry was and what he attempted to accomplish, but it’s the details that are incredibly powerful and moving.CityNews: The documentary presented footage and images with only a minimal amount of voiceover. Sean, can you share anything regarding those choices?Sean: I wanted to create the definitive Terry Fox story and Terry Fox film, and I felt it was important to only speak to the individuals that were there in the van and just stay in that world. So I didn’t shoot any sit-down interviews on camera. I didn’t want it to feel like it was made in 2026; I wanted to have this timeless 1980 feel, this magical summer. Here are these individuals that set out to do this thing and this was their story.CityNews: Darrell, do you remember a moment during the marathon when you realized that this had become so much bigger than you thought it would?Darrell: The first day. I really felt it the first day. I was there with Terry when he ran over 3,000 miles, 5,000 kilometres, preparing for the Marathon of Hope. I was there for many of those miles that he trained. I ran with Terry when he trained for the Prince George-to-Boston Marathon in September of ’79.But to see him that first day of the Marathon of Hope… I don’t have a lot of memories of 1980, because the decade after Terry passed, I ran away from the Marathon of Hope instead of embracing it. It was so hard to deal with the loss. But one memory I have that is so crystal clear is just seeing Terry running and to know that this wasn’t training anymore. This was fulfilling that dream.I just knew from what I was experiencing … that Canadians are going to respond when they start seeing more of him as he approached the big province of Ontario, that this is just going to grow and get bigger.And I guess that happened. It did happen.Sean: It’s cool because the camera was there to document Darrell’s first day. So there’s an actual shot in the film where you see Darrell running across the road and giving Terry water across the highway as cars are zooming by, and people aren’t really understanding yet what he’s doing.ScreenshotCityNews: Do you think Terry would be comfortable with the way Canadians have turned him into an icon?Sean: Darrell, you could speak more to this, but from my understanding, I don’t think Terry would like to be put on a pedestal. At the same time, if it is getting more awareness, bringing in money for cancer research, the very thing he was running for, I think he recognized that there’s a figure that was required. He was happy to be that for so many people.But would he have been on the red carpet for this movie? Probably not.Darrell: He would be very uncomfortable. As we saw in Run Terry Run, right at the height of success in Scarborough Centre, he’s upset, he’s emotional, because he’s being praised and he was very uncomfortable with that.That’s what I’ve always admired about my brother — and there are so many things I admire about Terry — is that he never changed throughout the Marathon of Hope. The person from small-town B.C., Port Coquitlam — very humble beginnings — was the same person who had to stop in Thunder Bay. Even though fame and fortune was at every turn, he discarded it. He didn’t want it.It was such a difficult balance for Terry, because he wanted people to support the Marathon of Hope and believe in what he was doing, and then he got it. But he felt that it was more directed at him and that it shouldn’t have been. He said in Scarborough, in Run Terry Run, ‘I’m only one member of the Marathon of Hope. I’m equal with all of you.’ I really admire that.Darrell Fox, brother of Terry Fox, on the red carpet at TIFF. (Courtesy Shawn Goldberg Photography)We all have the ability to be Terry Fox. There was nothing special about him, average in every way, but one person can make a difference, and that’s what Terry proved to us all.CityNews: For either of you, if there is a common misconception about Terry or the Marathon of Hope that you would like to correct, what would that be?Sean: Early on, I was at a crossroads with my wife and producing partner, Molly, about whether we were going to go all in and finance this. At some point, we went down to Toronto. There was an art installation on Terry, and there was a school teacher there that was explaining to some international travellers who Terry Fox was, and she said, ‘We teach this every year in our school. Terry Fox, he walked across the whole country.’ Overhearing that, I felt a resounding sense of, I really need to make this movie now. This is why this story needs to exist.Darrell: I actually hear, over and over, in more recent years that it was a ‘walk.’ Terry would not be happy if that was used. Terry ran every step of the way…. When it came to running every step of the way, we had to put a piece of paper and a rock where Terry finished running the night before. And Terry would have to touch that and start from there the next morning. If we didn’t find it, because it would be darkness – we were up at 4:30, Terry running at 5 – there were times we couldn’t find that. So what would Terry do? He’d go back over ground he had run the night before until he ran by or he saw something, a landmark or something, or a telephone pole, ‘I remember running by that.’ And that’s where he would start.He felt if he didn’t run every step of the way, he would only be letting down those that he had left behind in the cancer ward. His commitment to doing it right and being honest and full of integrity is incredible.Sean: There’s a line in the film where Doug says Terry’s belief was: it didn’t count if you had to walk. He had to run every step.Darrell Fox, Sean Menard, and Terry’s best friend, Doug Alward. (Courtesy Shawn Goldberg Photography)CityNews: Is there a particular piece of the footage that stopped you in your tracks?Sean: I always go back to the first reel I found. It was … silent, because they would record the audio separately. It was just a clip of Terry running up a hill for three and a half minutes. And I was watching him fix the leather strap on his walking prosthetic, maybe every fifth or sixth time. And just seeing it in such detail – because we could take the film negatives and bring them to 4K – seeing the sweat on his forehead, I’m seeing him chewing gum.And I’m really understanding why he has that iconic gate and the double hop.No one’s ever seen it like this before, other than those that were there that day back in 1980 watching him run by the side of the highway.Darrell: The long clips of Terry running are incredible. It takes me back to 1980, but it has Terry’s voice.I know every clip of Terry, I know every sound bite of Terry. But this is new, and to hear his voice for the first time in clips that I haven’t heard for forever, it’s an incredible experience and I just hang on it.To find that after 43 or 44 years was an incredible gift and I cherish them.CityNews: Despite everything, Terry kept going as long as he could. After making this film, what does ‘keep going’ mean to both of you now?Darrell: I think that’s what we’ve been doing for 46 years, and this just allows us to amplify that message that Terry’s not running, but he is running. He’s running in all of us. The Marathon of Hope is not finished. It’s continuing. We’re continuing every year.And we won’t stop until we’ve eradicated cancer once and for all. That’s the baton that Terry handed off to all of us. He would be so proud and thankful that we’re continuing to run.The disease that is cancer, it will end one day. I’m more than hopeful. I’m confident. I may not be around, but I think we’re going to fulfill Terry’s dream one day. And cancer will be a disease that you can live with and you won’t die from that. That will happen one day.Run Terry Run (dir: Sean Menard, 111 min.) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The film had two screenings at the Vancouver International Film Festival and opens in general release Friday, Oct. 9. window.plugins = {"ima3":{"ad_server_url":"http:\/\/pubads.g.doubleclick.net\/gampad\/ads?sz=640x360&iu=\/7326\/en.citynews_toronto.web\/video&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&ad_rule=1&cmsid=1224&env=vp&output=xml_vast2&unviewed_position_start=1&url={window.location.href}&correlator={timestamp}&vid={mediainfo.id}&title={mediainfo.name}&referrer={document.referrer}&duration={mediainfo.duration}&description_url=toronto.citynews.ca","syndicated_enable":true,"index_bidding_ad_server_url_exchange":{"index_bidding_ad_exchange_site_id":{"preroll":{"1":{"1":{"siteID":191890},"2":{"siteID":192079}}}}}},"moat":{"partner_code":"rogersbrightcoveint878700116445"},"streamsense":{"ns_st_pu":"\"Rogers\"","c2":"3005682","c3":"\"CITYNEWS\"","ns_st_st":"\"CITYTV\"","ns_st_stc":"\"5193\""},"chartbeat":{"uid":"55711","domain":"toronto.citynews.ca"},"omniture":{"site_catalyst_account":"rogersrmiglobal","site_catalyst_brand":"citynews toronto"},"adtitle":{"advertisement_title":"Advertisement"}} window.plugins = {"ima3":{"ad_server_url":"http:\/\/pubads.g.doubleclick.net\/gampad\/ads?sz=640x360&iu=\/7326\/en.citynews_toronto.web\/video&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&ad_rule=1&cmsid=1224&env=vp&output=xml_vast2&unviewed_position_start=1&url={window.location.href}&correlator={timestamp}&vid={mediainfo.id}&title={mediainfo.name}&referrer={document.referrer}&duration={mediainfo.duration}&description_url=toronto.citynews.ca","syndicated_enable":true,"index_bidding_ad_server_url_exchange":{"index_bidding_ad_exchange_site_id":{"preroll":{"1":{"1":{"siteID":191890},"2":{"siteID":192079}}}}}},"moat":{"partner_code":"rogersbrightcoveint878700116445"},"streamsense":{"ns_st_pu":"\"Rogers\"","c2":"3005682","c3":"\"CITYNEWS\"","ns_st_st":"\"CITYTV\"","ns_st_stc":"\"5193\""},"chartbeat":{"uid":"55711","domain":"toronto.citynews.ca"},"omniture":{"site_catalyst_account":"rogersrmiglobal","site_catalyst_brand":"citynews toronto"},"adtitle":{"advertisement_title":"Advertisement"}}