With great weather, large crowd and near record fundraising; Cochrane's annual Terry Fox Run, Sept. 17, was a success on all counts.

Now in its 37th year here in Cochrane, it has regained momentum in recent years with more participants and fundraising success.

"We had a beautiful day which always helps a lot," says chair Lindsay Regier. "We had a great turnout; lots of families, lots of dogs and people on bikes and runners and walkers. It was just a nice mix and a good feel. A lot of people stayed for the barbecue afterwards which always makes it a fun day."

Regier says they fell just shy of the fundraising record by being able to pass along $13,961 to the Terry Fox Foundation. One hundred per cent of donations are directed to the foundation and organizers rely upon sponsorships and community partnerships to offset race costs.

They've worked hard to poomote the event and she has even been at the Cochrane Farmers' Market to make people aware.

"It's definitely has become bigger every year and I think there's some momentum building. People are starting to realize it's an annual thing and we've built it up with a barbecue in the last couple of years so it's a bigger event and people can hang out with their friends and family and enjoy the day."

Registration opened at 10 a.m. and before the 11 a.m. start participants had a chance to mingle and hear from both Regier and guest speaker Donna Morris, who has participated in the walk for the last 23 years. She told of how cancer has inflicted her family and the latest to succumb was her sister last year. She also shared stories of past Terry Fox event.

For the 25th anniversary of the run they participated in the Vancouver event. Adidas issued commemorative running shoes that year (2005) that were a replica of what Terry Fox wore on his Marathon of Hope. The Morris’ were able to track down some in Red Deer and, as uncomfortable as they are, they’ve worn them at the event every year since.

Following warmup exercises lead by Rick Mee, of Body by Mee, the crowd hit the trails from Mitford Park to do the entire 10 km route or as much as they wished. 

It was Regier's third year of organizing the event and she's looking forward to next year.

"I thought we might to get to $15,000 this year so now I've got the drive. It's on now, we're going to do it next year!"