The annual Terry Fox Run will have a special theme, this year.

When Fox was forced to stop his Marathon of Hope in 1980, more than 65,000 letters, cards, telegrams and artwork started flooding into his parents home, often simply addressed to Terry Fox, British Columbia.

Most of that correspondence started with the words, “Dear Terry” and contained messages of love and encouragement, often sharing deeply personal experiences, which inspired Fox and his family during the difficult days.

Organizers of this year’s run in Dauphin are inviting people from the Parkland to join the postcard campaign online at terryfox.org. A Dear Terry t-shirt is also now available online, with all proceeds going to cancer research.

Words of inspiration is what organizers want to capture from people who participate in this year’s run.

This year’s run takes place, Sept. 17, at Vermillion Park, beginning at 11 a.m.

Ninety-four per cent of children diagnosed with childhood cancers are expected to be alive five years after diagnosis. Target therapies have helped almost double the five-year survival rates for melanoma.

Five-year survival rates for certain cancers, such as breast, prostate, melanoma, thyroid, testes and Hodgkin’s lymphoma is now over 80 per cent on the average. Survival rates for all cancers combined have increased from 25 per cent in 1942 to 60 per cent today and up to 90 per cent in some cases. Cancer mortalities has decreased over time since 1988. Mortality rates are down 37 per cent in men and 22 per cent in women.