More than 5,000 people ran, skated, walked or cycled around Zagreb's Jarun Lake on Sunday in support of the worldwide charity event Terry Fox Run which raises funding for cancer research.

This non-competitive event takes place every year in honour of Canadian athlete Terry Fox, who lost a leg to cancer. In order to raise money for treatment, in 1980 he embarked on a run across Canada, which he called the Marathon of Hope. He ran for 143 days, covering 42 kilometres every day, but failed to finish his run because the disease came back, claiming his life at 22.

In his memory, a drive was launched to organise runs as annual events, aimed at raising funds for cancer research. The race is held every year in Canada and in over 60 countries across the world, including Croatia, where it was first held in 2000.

To date, Croatian runs raised about 6.3 million kuna (€849,000), and the money raised this year will be donated to the Zagreb-based Rudjer Boskovic Institute, to be used for cancer research.

The run was organised by the Canadian Embassy in cooperation with the Croatian League Against Cancer and several other organisations.

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