More than $14K raised ahead of Kitchener's Terry Fox Run

An annual fundraiser has returned to Kitchener and all of Canada.

The 43rd Terry Fox Run kicked off at Victoria Park Sunday, with more than $14,000 raised for cancer research before the event started.

"Everybody here has a personal story," said Kitchener organizer Marcus Drasdo. "Family members that have been lost to cancer or battling cancer, anything like that."

Over 100 writers registered for the Kitchener run, with those who they're running for written on their shirts.

"I'm running for Rauf Abi, he's my Dad's friend," said runner Salih Okan. "I recently found out that he has cancer. I'm praying that he gets better."

Cancer survivors, like Heidi Davies, wore red for the run. Davies overcame osteogenic sarcoma, which was the same cancer Terry Fox had.

"Because of Terry, I wasn't completely naïve about what the cancer was," said Davies. "It's not a death sentence like it used to be. As we do more and more research we find more and more ways to remove the cancer or replace it."

Donations can still be made through the Marathon of Hope website.