It has been 45 years since Terry Fox changed the face of fundraising forever with his heroic trek across Canada to raise money for cancer research. Since that historic run in 1980 over $900 million has been raised for cancer research through the Terry Fox Research Institute, and the numbers keep growing.

This year, to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Fox’s historic run, a group of eight athletes, including Terry’s brother Darrell Fox, are gathering to cross the country, for their own “Ride of Hope’. This cross-Canada cycling journey will take the riders more than 7,000 kilometers over 32 days with the hopes of raising $1 million for cancer research.

Kamloops resident Charlene Eden is one of the eight riders who will take to the roads on June 9, 2025. Having looked up to Terry Fox since her youth, Eden first saw the opportunity for the ride on an Instagram post, but a recent knee surgery in October of 2024 kept her from applying for the opportunity.

Eden is no stranger to endurance rides. She has taken part in both local and international endurance events. Last year she travelled all the way to Ireland to take part in the highly popular Trans Atlantic Way, and even shortly after her surgery she says she was back out riding 100 km a day as early as January.

“I know how to suffer,” she laughed.

Eden said her knee healed a lot faster than she’d thought it would and she made what seemed like an innocent post on her social media.

“About eight weeks ago posted that I was grateful to be outside with my peeps on my bike and had I known I would be feeling this good I would have signed up for some crazy adventure,” said Eden.

She and her husband, Brett Emsland, have been long supporters of the Terry Fox Foundation, and Charlene had an opportunity to meet Darrell Fox in 2024. They now follow one another on social media, so when Darrel replied to Eden’s post with: “Hey Charlene I’ve got a crazy adventure,” she couldn’t say no.

“This ride, as Darrell puts it, is ‘Terry Tough’,” Eden said. “The distance per day for 32 consecutive days is quite honestly terrifying.  But all eight riders believe in Terry’s dream of a cancer-free world through research and so we are finding our inner Terry and taking this on.  And I am hoping that the community will get behind me to both spread the word and raise funds for the Terry Fox Foundation.”

The ride is a tough one. Thirty-two days with an average of 220 km per day.

“This is a whole other level of endurance. Mental endurance,” said Eden. 

And as for her knee, she laughed, “We’ll see how it feels after a few thousand kilometres. It’s the least of my worries at this point. It might be the only thing that holds up.”

The ride starts off with a trek through the Rockies. “It’s a lot of climbing in the first five days. Two hundred plus kilometres and over 3,000 meters of climbing. Getting those first days behind us is daunting,” she described.

It’s a big ride, burning six to eight thousand calories a day, being on their game for 32 days. “Even the days you don’t feel up to it,” she said. But Eden has some big reasons to take part.

Her deep respect for Terry Fox, the Foundation, and the work that still happens every day through the Terry Fox Research Institute, of course, is a huge reason for this ride.

“Terry changed the face of how we raise funds,” she said. “He raised over a dollar for every Canadian in Canada! It was an easy, terrifying yes to get involved.”

As they ride, they hope to meet Canadians across the country. “The most rewarding and hardest is the conversations with people along the way. Hearing the stories of loss and the stories of survival.”

Which brings us to the other reason that she feels so passionately about being a part of the Ride for Hope.

“The one piece that I am very honest about – why? Cancer touches all of us. But 18 years ago, I almost lost my life from addiction. People who didn’t have to, who just showed up in the world, gave me a second chance. At a time when I wasn’t even sure I wanted a different life.

“I always said that I would at some point do something really meaningful to give back and do something to show up for others. This is my way of saying thank you.

“We don’t have to wait until something is impacting us to do something for a good cause. We just need to do things to make the world a better place in the ways that show up on your doorstep.”

Or in this case, on her social media.

You can follow Charlene on her fundraising page ride.terryfox.ca/page/charleneeden. Donations are greatly appreciated.

Cheer the riders on, follow them on social media, the goal is to bring back that Terry Fox passion and drive.

“I think there is a lot of pessimism out there,” said Eden. “But when you learn about the research being done and the research going on, it’s incredible.”