Judy Preteau has been keeping pace in the effort to end cancer in her southeast Manitoba community since Terry Fox ended his Marathon of Hope in 1980.
And on Thursday, Fred Fox, Terry Fox's older brother, visited Vassar, 140 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg, to recognize the decades of fundraising and organizing Preteau has done.
Preteau plans to head Vassar's 45th Terry Fox Run on Sept. 14.
"It must be Terry that's helping me," Preteau said Thursday. "If we quit, we'll never find a cure, so we gotta keep going."
Fred Fox is also visiting Winnipeg this week and will be at the Goldeyes game Friday night before sharing a cup of coffee with visitors to the Mallard Park Market in Petersfield on Saturday morning.
Vassar's is the longest continuous Terry Fox Run in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and Preteau's drive to help has not wavered in the 45 years.
The Vassar Community Centre on Thursday was packed with scores of people in Terry Fox Run shirts from years past. On the wall was a photo of Preteau and the runners in 1981, the first year she started gathering pledges.
But she, her four kids and a few others in Vassar started even earlier, inspired by Terry Fox to run in September 1980 after his journey across Canada was cut short in Thunder Bay by the return of his cancer.
"Like Terry said when he was in Toronto, even if I don't finish, we need others to continue. You gotta keep going without me," Fred Fox said. "And Judy took up that challenge to do it, from Day 1 to today, still continuing on. It doesn't happen without people like Judy. She's amazing. She's inspiring on her own."
Preteau's face filled with emotion and a humble smile when Fox handed her a certificate of recognition.
"I never thought in 45 years that this would ever happen to me, that he would come to the small town of Vassar," she said.
Preteau's youngest son, Dean, was four years old when they first ran in 1980.
"My kids, the kids in the community, were amazed by the strength of this boy."
Now her 12-year-old grandson Tanner is running with her.
Preteau hopes to raise another $2,500 this year for the Terry Fox Foundation.
Fox said he is proud his brother's journey in 1980 still inspires hope that keeps runs like Vassar's going every year.
"We've all been touched by cancer. That's the common denominator, and Terry was the one who wanted to make a difference and impact cancer research," Fox said.
"Through what he did in 1980, people are able to continue that in their own way through Terry Fox runs in small communities."
Fred Fox was born 14 months before his younger brother Terry and saw something to inspire the generations that have come after him.
"Terry was just average. He wasn't the best athlete. He wasn't the best student in class. He had to work hard," Fox said.
"Terry's a great example to kids and people in general in their own lives, that you have to work hard to achieve the goals that you want."
The annual Terry Fox Run has so far raised over $900 million for cancer research.