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50 free Terry Fox trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Terry Fox ran the equivalent of a marathon a day on one leg for 143 days, and the run he could not finish became the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research. These Terry Fox trivia questions cover his diagnosis, the Marathon of Hope from St. John's to Thunder Bay, the people who helped along the way, the national mourning, and the honours that followed. Every answer is sourced, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What name did Fox give his 1980 run across the country?
Marathon of Hope
He first told only his friend Doug Alward about the plan, framing his training as preparation for an ordinary marathon.
Q 02In which city was Terry Fox born in 1958?
Winnipeg
He grew up in the Transcona suburb before the family moved west to British Columbia in 1966.
Q 03In which British Columbia city did the Fox family settle in 1968?
Port Coquitlam
His high school there was renamed Terry Fox Secondary School in 1986, and he is buried in the city's municipal cemetery.
Q 04Fox was diagnosed with which form of cancer in 1977?
Osteosarcoma
He believed a 1976 car crash had weakened his knee and left it vulnerable, though his doctors saw no connection.
Q 05Fox was told his chance of survival was 50 per cent; what had it been two years earlier?
15%
The jump in survival rates impressed on him the value of cancer research and planted the seed for the run.
Q 06Fox studied kinesiology at which school?
Simon Fraser University
His mother talked him into enrolling; he planned to become a physical education teacher and played junior varsity basketball.
Q 07Which future Paralympic star recruited Fox to his wheelchair basketball team in 1977?
Rick Hansen
Less than two months after learning the sport, Fox made the team for the national championship in Edmonton.
Q 08How many national wheelchair basketball titles did Fox win?
Three
He was also named a North American Wheelchair Basketball Association all-star in 1980.
Q 09In which city did Fox begin his run on April 12, 1980?
St. John's
He filled two bottles with ocean water, planning to keep one and pour the other into the Pacific at the finish.
Q 10Fox intended to finish by pouring his bottle of ocean water into the Pacific at which city?
Victoria
The full route would have covered about 8,000 kilometres; he managed 5,373 before the cancer returned.
Q 11Roughly how far did Fox run each day?
26 miles (42 km)
He ran with a hop-step gait because the springs in his artificial leg needed extra time to reset after every stride.
Q 12Fox's goal was one dollar from every Canadian, which at the time meant roughly how much?
$24 million
He had started by hoping for $1 million, then $10 million, before settling on a dollar a head.
Q 13Which friend drove the van and cooked meals throughout the run?
Doug Alward
The two fought so often that by Nova Scotia they were barely speaking, and Fox's 17-year-old brother was flown in as a buffer.
Q 21In Toronto, a crowd of 10,000 honoured Fox at which city hall plaza?
Nathan Phillips Square
The Cancer Society estimated it collected $100,000 in donations in that one day.
Q 22Which NHL star ran alongside Fox in Toronto and gave him his 1980 All-Star Game jersey?
Darryl Sittler
That evening Fox threw the first pitch at Exhibition Stadium before a Blue Jays game.
Q 23Which Hockey Hall of Famer's $25,000 cheque and handshake did Fox call the highlight of his run?
Bobby Orr
The meeting came as Fox worked his way through southern Ontario in July 1980.
Q 14Which of Fox's brothers joined the run as a peacemaker between Fox and his driver?
Darrell
He was 17 at the time; a Globe and Mail story later highlighted tensions between the brothers, which Fox called 'trash'.
Q 15Which company supplied Fox's running shoes?
Adidas
He refused any donation with strings attached and turned away companies that wanted him to endorse products.
Q 16What did the Ford Motor Company donate to the run?
A camper van
Imperial Oil covered the fuel, and Fox wrote separately to ask for grants to buy a purpose-built running leg.
Q 17Which hotelier, who had lost a son to cancer, pledged $2 a mile and rallied other companies?
Isadore Sharp
The Four Seasons founder later proposed the annual run in Fox's name and helped organize the first one in 1981.
Q 18Fox lingered in Montreal so he could reach Ottawa in time for which holiday?
Canada Day
He had collected over $200,000 by Montreal, roughly a third of the way through the planned route.
Q 19Which prime minister met Fox when he reached Ottawa?
Pierre Trudeau
He also met Governor General Ed Schreyer and was guest of honour at several sporting events in the capital.
Q 20Fox performed a ceremonial kickoff at a CFL game between the Ottawa Rough Riders and which team?
Saskatchewan Roughriders
More than 16,000 fans gave him a standing ovation.
Q 24Fox threw a ceremonial first pitch before a Blue Jays game against which team?
Cleveland Indians
The game was at Exhibition Stadium, the Jays' home before the SkyDome opened in 1989.
Q 25Outside which Ontario city was Fox forced to end his run?
Thunder Bay
A statue and the Terry Fox Courage Highway now mark the spot where chest pains and a coughing fit stopped him on September 1, 1980.
Q 26For how many days did Fox run before the cancer forced him to stop?
143
Apart from rest days in Montreal taken at the Cancer Society's request, he refused to take a day off, even on his 22nd birthday.
Q 27How far had Fox run when he was forced to stop?
5,373 km
He refused offers from others to finish the route for him, insisting he would complete it himself once he recovered.
Q 28To which organ had Fox's cancer spread when he stopped running?
Lungs
He announced the news himself at a tearful press conference the day after he was driven to hospital.
Q 29Which television network staged a nationwide telethon a week after the run ended?
CTV
The five-hour broadcast raised $10.5 million, including $1 million each from the governments of British Columbia and Ontario.
Q 30Fox remains the youngest person ever appointed to which honour?
Companion of the Order of Canada
British Columbia also gave him the Order of the Dogwood, its highest award, in the same month.