The Confederation Bridge will be closed to vehicles on Sunday between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. as thousands of walkers and runners take part in the annual Terry Fox Run.
Five years ago — on the 25th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope — more than 14,000 people took part in the event.
The bridge, which links Prince Edward Island with New Brunswick, is 12.9 kilometres across.
On Friday, Terry Fox's mother, Betty Fox, was in Prince Edward Island to promote the run.
"We're turning a corner very slowly, as far as cancer research is concerned," Fox said in an interview.
"We're not going to find a cure for cancer. I've been told that by researchers. We will find causes for many of the various types of cancer and I believe that when that happens we won't need a run anymore."
Betty Fox and her husband Rolly will be in Barrington, N.S., on Sunday. The community won a national contest to have the Foxes participate in the run.
However, Terry's brother, Fred, will be at the Confederation Bridge on Sunday.
Terry Fox was only 18 when he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. His right leg was amputated 15 centimetres above the knee in 1977.
Three years later, wearing a new leg made of steel rods and a glass-fibre bucket, the determined athlete from Port Coquitlam, B.C., was ready to run across Canada.
On April 12, 1980, Terry Fox dipped his artificial leg into St. John's harbour to mark the beginning of his Marathon of Hope.
His goal was to raise money for cancer research by running across Canada.
His trademark hop-skip gait took him through six provinces. He ran the equivalent of a marathon every day — 42 kilometres.
When word came in September 1980 that the cancer that had taken Fox's leg had spread to his chest, the country was stunned.
The young man choked back tears as he was wheeled away on a stretcher in Thunder Bay, Ont. He died 10 months later, a month short of his 23rd birthday.
His 143-day Marathon of Hope, which covered 5,373 kilometres, still stands as an incredible feat that has inspired millions of people around the world.
To date, close to $500 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry Fox's name.
(Charlottetown Guardian)