Flag in hand, feet pounding the pavement, Eddy Nolan’s friends and family ran in his honour.
It’s been 45 years since Terry Fox ran across Canada to raise money for cancer research.
And for decades, countless Canadians have followed in his footsteps. Nolan was one of them, running in 43 races, and raising more than $1 million for the cause, until he died last year.
On Saturday, his loved ones kept his fight alive.
“I can almost hear him say, ‘It never gets old for me. never,‘” said Maria Silvaggio, Nolan’s wife.
Nolan ended his life through medical assistance in dying exactly one year ago, saying complications from cancer robbed him of his quality of life.
He had racked up 65 marathons, many of them with his wife by his side. Some next to old friends, like Aldo Bellon, who says that Nolan made long distances feel short.
“Because he used to entertain us with all sorts of anecdotes of his life or his experience about running,” said Bellon with the Boreal Run Club.
“Sometimes, he was talking too much, and I would’ve liked to throw in a few words, but it was okay.”
Nolan lost two sisters to the disease, before battling it himself.
“He’s a fighter. He fought,” said Anna Maria Drouin who also runs with the club.
“He didn’t care what people thought and what they said. He did what he believed in.”
Silvaggio added, “He saw children in the cancer ward, and he needed to do something. He needed to make a difference.”
And that he did by raising money to fight cancer.
“It’s something that’s a lot more treatable, a lot more survivable, and that’s due in huge part to the efforts that Eddy Nolan and all the other Terry Fox supporters have made over the years,” said Brian Levy, another runner.
He also inspired generations of students by leading Terry Fox runs at the English Montreal School Board for many years.
“Eddie always had sayings. And he said, ‘there’s one Elvis Presley… one Terry Fox,” said Silvaggio. “I just want to say this. There’s only one Eddie Nolan.”
Nolan’s family and friends hope he’ll be remembered by another one of his favourite slogans: ‘Be kind. It costs nothing.’
