21 Kilometres On Crutches

Arturo Ruiz-Verde is from Mexico City. He has cerebral palsy. He uses crutches to walk. Arturo came to British Columbia for the Vancouver International Marathon on May 7. The marathon was 42 kilometres (26 miles) long. Arturo ran half of the marathon. He ran 21 kilometres (13 miles) in 2 hours and 44 minutes.

Arturo says he ran to honour British Columbia runner Terry Fox. "Terry Fox is my inspiration", he said.

Terry Fox

Terry Fox was a runner with one leg. In 1980, he tried to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He ran five thousand three hundred and seventy three kilometres. Then he had to stop because he had lung cancer. He died in 1981. 

Background Information

This story is about two people with disabilities who ran marathons: a Canadian who ran a Marathon of Hope across Canada and a Mexican who ran a marathon in Vancouver to Honour the Canadian. Do you know what the Marathon of Hope is? Who ran that marathon? What was he raising money for? Do you know of any other persons with disabilities who test their endurance running marathons?

Questions

1. Where is Arturo Ruiz-Verde from?

2. What are crutches?

3. What is a marathon?

4. How long would it take Arturo to run the entire marathon?

5. Use the word inspiration in a sentence.

6. Why do you think Arturo was so inspired by Terry Fox?

7. What happened to Terry Fox's leg?

8. How far did Terry run?

9. Why did he stop?

10. How does Terry's dream continue today?