Repulse Bay (Sep 20/06) - The annual Terry Fox Run in Repulse Bay had a little more excitement surrounding it than usual this year.

Jeremy Chippett of Tusarvik school co-ordinated the event.

Chippett said last year's run was held closer to the national date, which made for a cold event on the Bay.

He said they decided to move it up to Sept. 1 this year, but Mother Nature still wouldn't co-operate.

The skies eventually cleared and the temperatures warmed enough to hold the event on Sept. 6.

But, even so, there was still the threat of unwanted participants to contend with.

"The Terry Fox Run turned into even more of a big deal this year because we've had an awful lot of polar bear sightings around the hamlet," said Chippett.

"A lot of the older kids go out to Old Water Lake and back, so we had the RCMP, a wildlife officer and local residents on patrol to make sure no bear was able to jump up in front of anyone.

"It was a bit tense, but the atmosphere did make it a pretty exciting event."

About 250 people took part in the Repulse run.

Between a school penny sale held in support of the run and a $200 donation from the hamlet, Repulse raised $1,124.25 for cancer research.

Chippett used material from the Terry Fox Foundation's website to construct a booklet that gave students an idea of who Fox was, all he accomplished and what's been done since he passed away.

"The material was circulated to all our teachers, and we also had movies and videos about Terry to show in some of the classes.

"So, everybody had a pretty good idea about what they were doing and why."

Chippett said Fox is held in high regard in Repulse and, and as soon as you bring up the dreaded "C" word, everyone has a story to tell about a friend or relative who was affected by it.

He said once you start talking about cancer research, everyone realizes the event is held for a bigger purpose than a simple run around the community.

"We had a little element of competition among some of the older students to see how fast they could get out to the lake and back.

"And everyone enjoyed the treats we had waiting for when they came back, so, overall, I'd have to say the event was a tremendous success."