MOOSE JAW — Helene Neville was in high school when Terry Fox ran across Canada to raise awareness about cancer, which inspired her to want to complete the race in his memory.
Forty-five years after the Canadian icon began his Marathon of Hope, the Pennsylvania-born, Vermont-raised Neville is pounding the Trans-Canada Highway in her quest to run from Thunder Bay, Ont., to Victoria, British Columbia.
The American’s 3,218.7-kilometre journey began on May 1, while her completion date is Sunday, Sept. 7. She had planned to finish by Sunday, Aug. 17, on her 65th birthday, but an injury set her back.
If Neville completes the race, she will become the first woman —and the first American — to complete this stretch in Fox’s honour. She is no stranger to defying the odds, because she was diagnosed in 2020 with a rare and aggressive stage 4 cancer and given eight weeks to live.
Remarkably, she reached remission in 2021 — and has since continued to inspire others with her extraordinary endurance achievements.
Neville was in Moose Jaw recently and discussed her marathon of hope, which has the theme of “rethink impossible.”
Delivering happiness on foot
“I’m just hoping people see me out there, maybe hear the story and think, ‘You know, if she can do that after questionable health, age, lack of sponsorship … then what more could I do?’” she said.
“I’m just out there delivering happiness on foot.”
The runner explained that she was in Grade 11 when Fox began running across Canada, while she continued hearing his story into Grade 12 and college because of how close Vermont is to Montreal.
Besides being a runner, Neville was a basketball player, a sport that Fox also played in a wheelchair.
“I just felt a connection to him,” she said, noting that his story and resilience were “unbelievable.” “I think about him every day.”
Fox died on June 28, 1981, at age 22.
Neville has been running seriously since 2010, while she thought about completing Fox’s Marathon of Hope beginning in 2018. However, she first embarked on a solo run across North America that spanned nine years and covered 22,160 kilometres (13,850 miles). She completed this run on her 59th birthday at the Arctic Ocean in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
The coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020, and being a nurse, Neville travelled to a low-income area of New Mexico to support people. She later travelled to Bismarck, N.D., to offer support, but became sick with cancer; she recovered in 2023 and began running again.
Inspired by Terry
After acquiring a camper van, Neville kicked off her Terry Fox-inspired run on May 1, but 13 days in, she broke both heels and took off a month to recover. The young man was always on her mind while she recuperated, as she wondered how he managed in the Thunder Bay area, which was nothing but hills.
“He did that on a 1980s-style prosthetic (leg). That had to be gruelling, because they are not like they are now,” she said. “And then … he got the word out across Canada without social media — nothing. That is amazing.”
Neville restarted her journey on June 17, and since then, the run — ranging from 22 kilometres to 30 kilometres per day — has been great. Moreover, she has experienced more joy, even though she is travelling by herself.
However, she has been relying on the generosity of people to help her, as she parks her van in a location and then asks someone to drive her to where she finished the day before.
“I have faith … ,” she said, noting that showing vulnerability inspires people to help others. “I just believe in the goodness and kindness of that human spirit, (which) is so alive that you just have to open your eyes … .
“We live in that love. And I believe it and I want to display that and then tell others about it.”
The ‘neighbourly spirit’
Neville has experienced a “domino effect,” where Canadians have helped her or know people who can offer support — the “neighbourly spirit” is alive and well. Furthermore, people track her down on the highway, while others meet her at a campground and give her things such as money, food or blankets.
This wasn’t a surprise to her, since she knew Canada was one of the friendliest countries on Earth. Moreover, many campgrounds let her stay for free because of her cause, whereas most places in the U.S. don’t care and ask if she has a tax-exempt status certificate.
The American is completing this trip without a support team, so she makes meals and finds accommodations herself. She also uses her social media to promote the run, inform her followers about Terry Fox and acquire donations on spotfund.com.
“Eat, sleep and run is my focus,” Neville said, noting she sometimes takes off a day to relax and recover. “Being in Canada and having all this help, it brought back why I do it. I love doing it, just connecting with people — and I feel younger.”
Neville added that Fox’s legacy will always be one of turning sadness into hope and overcoming adversity.
For more information, or to donate, visit heleneneville.com.
