CHENNAI: Scores of Chennaiites from various walks of life are expected participate in the Marathon of Hope on Sunday to raise funds for cancer. The third Terry Fox Run, which is being held at the campus of IIT Madras, is expected to feature 5,000 runners and will be flagged off by noted Tamil film actor and politician Sarath Kumar, said Akaksh Dube, a cancer survivor with roots in Tamil Nadu, the person behind the idea. The run, an annual non-competitive charity event held in over 600 cities in 53 countries across the globe to raise money exclusively for the cancer research, is slowly starting to get a hold in Chennai and is becoming popular in schools and colleges. Dube blamed the current lifestyle and unhealthy environment for the rising number of cancer patients in the city. “Earlier, one used to get cancer mostly due to genetic factors. Whereas, now the change in lifestyle as well as rising pollution levels and unhealthy food habits are resulting in more and more people being diagnosed with cancer,” said Dube, who will be totally cured of blood cancer by 2015.“In my case, cancer was detected early when I got injured while playing tennis in 2009. During check-up, they found the platelet was low and from then on I was on Criainial Radiation followed by maintenance Chemotherapy. Now I am still undergoing Chemotherapy every month and will recover totally by 2015,” says Dube.During the run, organisers will also put up stalls to raise awareness about cancer. The Bone Marrow Registry will be providing kids as well as urging youngsters to sign up in a bid to help save cancer patients. Dube said that after the success of the run in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, there are plans to start the run in Bangalore by September. With actress Anu Hassan and actor Vikram being torch bearers in 2009 and 2010 runs, respectively, the event had been a success with about `35 lakh being raised from various contributors. The amount was given to Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, the designated institution by Terry fox Foundation for advanced cancer research in country.(Interested participants may visit www.terryfoxrunchennai.in for online registration.)
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