The 44th annual Terry Fox Run for cancer research goes ahead this morning at Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John’s.

Many breakthroughs have been made over the last four decades in cancer research and treatment thanks to the millions of dollars raised through the annual event.

Among those involved in the organization of this year’s Terry Fox Run is Dr. Modeline Longjohn, a researcher with Memorial University’s Faculty of Medicine.

She’s been involved in planning for the annual event for the last three years and felt it was important not just to be involved in researching the disease, but also in raising awareness, and funding for more research opportunities.

She wanted to spread the word that ordinary people can be involved and play a role in finding cures for the dreaded disease.

She says the lab work involved is intensive, with a team and methodology that starts with a question and finding the answer. “So, what tools do we have to be able to answer the question that we’re asking, (and) are we even asking the right questions?”

The event run starts with registration at 10:00 a.m. at Quidi Vidi Lake followed by the run at 11:00.