Beyond Terry Fox: Remarkable Canadian Foot Journeys

While Terry Fox is widely celebrated for his Marathon of Hope, his quest to cross Canada on foot was preceded by other remarkable journeys.

Percy Greathead, an English immigrant, set out from Vancouver in March 1895 with a goal to walk around the world. His reported experiences included evading a wild cat, killing a grizzly bear, and narrowly escaping a train on a narrow bridge. He arrived in Halifax in March 1896, emptying a bottle of Pacific water into the Atlantic, though his credibility was later questioned by a newspaper calling him a fraud.

Later expeditions were more documented. Burnest Heard pushed an oil drum, and in 1921, Charles Burkman and Sid Carr's walk from Halifax to Vancouver gained media attention. This led to a race, with Jack and Clifford Behan reaching Vancouver first, but Jennie and Frank Dill completed the journey in a record 134 days, a feat highlighted by Jennie's incredible pace.

Cross-Canada walks also became platforms for social advocacy. In 1923, two Great War veterans with leg amputations, George Hincks and Marshall McDougall, walked from Calgary to Ottawa to demonstrate the stamina of disabled individuals. They used lectures to critique prejudice in the job market, though their trek was cut short in western Ontario.

Decades later, in 1975, Ken Weldrick ran from Vancouver to St. John's to raise awareness and funds for Canadians with intellectual disabilities. Despite facing severe frostbite that hospitalized him for two months and resulted in the loss of all his toenails, supporters pledged approximately $7,000 to charities.