This week, Abu Dhabi hosts its 14th Terry Fox Run to help fund cancer research. Leslie Scrivenershares her memories of a life on the road with the reluctant celebrity who inspired the world with his Marathon of Hope. There are moments in life embedded in memory - the first kiss from the man you'll eventually marry, the surge of love when the doctor holds up your firstborn child. I have another memory as deep and abiding as those - the first time I saw Terry Fox running across Canada. This is what I saw: a handsome, compact, curly haired young man of 20 with slashes of sunburn on his cheeks. He wore plain grey shorts and a white T-shirt. His left leg was tanned and muscular; the right was mechanical, a primitive steel shaft with a flexible foot and a fibreglass bucket.
He was on a dual carriageway, a lone and lonely-looking figure running - you could see the sense of purpose on his face - beside a forest of poplar trees. It was a shocking sight because in a moment you understood what he was up against. Canada is a vast country. Its motto, A Mari usque ad Mare, tells us that it stretches from sea to sea, from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, a distance of 5,300 miles. And Terry Fox, university athlete, cancer survivor, amputee, was going to run the distance, day after plodding day, in what he called his Marathon of Hope. He had overcome bone cancer, survived the ordeals of chemotherapy and felt he had a debt to pay. He would raise a dollar from every Canadian - that meant about 23 million Canadian dollars (Dh69.2m) - for cancer research and along the way, he would tell his story.
As a young reporter for The Toronto Star, Canada's largest newspaper, I'd been talking to Terry on the telephone for some months before we met. I wrote about his journey - the drivers who tried to run him off the road, the shy schoolgirls who brought him sweets, his incredible stamina and his audacious dream. And here he was on the road beside me. I honked the horn of the rented car I was driving and flapped my left hand uselessly at him. He didn't waver - he didn't look or break his stride. His left hand shot up for a moment and then he was back in his bubble of concentration running towards the next telephone pole, the next mile marker. He kept on running.
He always said that's what he liked best. That summer of 1980, he ran his heart out, usually a marathon, 26 miles, a day. He had started in April, in the harbour of St John's, Newfoundland, in the east and planned to end on the wild shores of the Pacific, in Canada's most westerly province, which was also his home. He swept the country up with him, step by step. One family I know imposed order at the dinner table by having each child take turns reporting on Terry's progress that day. Television crews followed him, newspapers and radios commented on his journey.
Still, there was cynicism. One editor at our paper told me, "It isn't news as long as he's running. It will only be news when he stops." That would come later. One morning I watched as he walked sleepily out of the Poplar Motel where he'd spent the night. It was 4.30am and still dark. He climbed in the back of the motor home with the big sign that said Marathon of Hope and wrapped himself in a blue sleeping bag. The mornings were full of dread and anticipation. Though his childhood friend Doug Alward and his young brother Darrell were in the motor home as his partners on this cross-country trek, no one spoke. We drove past grain silos that gleamed in the peaceful moonlight; cows moved uneasily behind farm fences; the road was empty. It was perfect.
Doug pulled the van over by the pile of rocks they had left the day before to mark the place Terry stopped running. They were scrupulous in this. He uncurled himself from the back and moved to the front of the van, paused at the roadside and started to run. The day had begun. Through the day, he would break for his wretched breakfast of beans and sugar cereal, nap in the van parked beside a corn field and run some more. In towns, crowds would gather to watch him run; there was a festive air. His brother ran beside the van collecting donations in a plastic bucket. The mayor would greet him and have a photo taken. Sometimes Terry bristled at these meetings, torn between the need to give speeches and getting the miles behind him: Canadian winters are ferocious, cold to the bone and long; the Rocky Mountains and windswept prairie lay between him and journey's end.
He came to be known as a hero, a tribute he disputed. He saw himself more as Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz, seeing new and unknown places, and having unimaginable encounters. "I loved it," he said later. "I enjoyed myself so much and that was what other people couldn't realise. They thought I was going through a nightmare all day long. Maybe I was, partly, but still I was doing what I wanted, a dream was coming true, and that, above everything else, made it worthwhile."
He was still very much a boy and modest, though he was becoming the most famous person in Canada. He was still surprised when cafe owners gave him meals - an enormous steak, French fries, a strawberry parfait, a couple of Cokes - without charge. Sometimes he was silly. For his 21st birthday, his friends gave him a toilet seat, which he hung around his neck as a joke. As he ran closer to Toronto, Canada's biggest city and industrial and financial centre, people would wait for hours on the side of the road to urge him on, cheering, often with tears - it was always emotional. "Magnificent, man," an onlooker on a motorcycle called to him on Danforth Avenue, one of Toronto's commercial streets. "He makes you believe in the human race again," a woman in Toronto's main city square said.
He saw how his daily struggles, his deep well of courage and his moving story of staring down cancer affected those he met. His empathy deepened and the weight of his journey seemed to take its toll. It hurt him, he said, when people asked for his autograph and he didn't have time to sit and talk with them. He wasn't interested in celebrity. "Don't focus on me," he told the crowds who waited on his every word, "focus on the Marathon of Hope". And if something should happen, he said prophetically, the Marathon should continue without him.
He could be hard too. After an interview, I wished him luck on his "walk". His eyes turned and he said, with edge, "I'm running." He was indeed. Sometimes the stump of his amputated leg in the fibreglass bucket rubbed raw and he bled onto his shorts. Understandably Canadians were upset at his suffering, but he brushed it off. He was angry when people suggested he should stop or at least see a doctor. "There's not a doctor in the world who's had an amputee who's doing anything on an artificial limb like I am. I appreciate their concern for me; I don't care what a doctor tells me. I'm going to keep running."
And so he did. In northern Ontario, the less populated part of the province, crowds began to thin and the evenings grew cold. Terry felt an alarming pressure in his chest and had a dry, persistent cough. There was another problem; he had cancelled scheduled medical check-ups throughout the run. On September 1, 1980 he ran 13 miles in the morning and felt good, he said. A local radio station had been broadcasting his arrival so by afternoon the road was crowded with people waiting to see him. "I was about 18 miles out of Thunder Bay. I started running and still felt pretty good. I think it was starting to drizzle rain a little bit. People were clapping me, cheering me all the way. It was a super help.
"When I finished my fifth mile (of the afternoon) I started coughing. I went into the van and I was lying down. I was coughing really hard, and then I felt a pain in my neck that spread into my chest. Finally I got myself to quit coughing but the pain didn't leave. I didn't know what to do so I went out and ran because it was the only thing to do." He ran until there were no more people waiting for him on the road, and then called for a doctor. He had run 3,339 miles in 143 days and crossed two-thirds of Canada.
At the hospital he had an X-ray. The doctor asked him when he had cancer. "Then I knew it. I felt shock, incredible, unbelievable shock. How could this happen? Everything was going so great and now, all of a sudden, it's over. The run's over." He was right. As the prime minister Pierre Trudeau put it, his old enemy had returned. His father, Rolly, who had taken a plane across the country with his mother, Betty, said it was unfair that Terry was struck by cancer again. "Very unfair." His mother could only cry.
"I don't feel this is unfair," Terry replied. "That's the thing about cancer. I'm not the only one. It happens all the time, to other people. I'm not special. This just intensifies what I did. It gives it more meaning. It'll inspire more people." How could he have known that? Terry died before dawn on June 28 1981, and Canada was plunged into mourning. "It's as if I lost my little brother," a Toronto woman said.
Bob McGill, a teacher and basketball coach who inspired Terry when he was in junior school, gave the eulogy. "You'd want us to keep the battle on. Terry, we will not let you down." Today, people in 50 countries take part in annual Terry Fox Runs - Abu Dhabi's 14th run takes place on the Corniche February 20. Last year's run, in which 10,000 took part, raised $213,000 (Dh614,300) for cancer research. Since 1980, the runs have raised $400 million (Dh1.2billion) worldwide.
One of the most remarkable international runs is in Cuba, where the word "cancer" was taboo, so much so that when loved ones succumbed to the disease, families wrote obliquely in death notices that they died "after a long and sad illness". "No one would say the word cancer, and that was part of the problem," according to Dr Rolando Camacho of Cuba's National Oncology Group. Through the annual run in Cuba, where more than 2.5 million participate, Terry Fox has helped transform thinking - that one can live fully with cancer.
"You almost don't have to call people to come and join the run," says Camacho. "It's something you do because your heart is involved." There has been progress in cancer research. A young person with osteogenic carcinoma, the kind of cancer Terry had, now has a 70 per cent chance of survival, compared to 30 per cent when he was diagnosed, and would be likely to keep his leg. Survival rates for childhood leukemias are about 80 per cent, compared to 30 per cent 25 years ago.
Which is one of the reasons I join the run in Toronto every September. I don't actually run any more, but walk, glad to see the happy faces, the racial diversity and the enduring commitment to Terry: many who participate were not even born in 1980. Last year, only my youngest child, David, joined me on the run. We walked in a park near our house and joked about the local politicians at the run, which was held before a federal election.
Walking with this lanky, dark-haired, dark-eyed child of mine was especially meaningful. He had been born 17 years earlier after I'd gone on the 1991 Terry Fox Run. Heavy and tired, I had joined my husband, our older children, my sisters and their husbands, and thought I'd walk a symbolic mile in Terry's memory. But it was a hot, beautiful day, the skies were clear, the mood was buoyant, and because it was for Terry, I walked and kept on walking.
Registration for Abu Dhabi's Terry Fox Run on February 20 is at 8.00am in the Sheraton Hotel car park (the run starts at 10.00am). For more information, go to www.terryfoxrun.org
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place play-off
FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place playoff
Zidane's managerial achievements
La Liga: 2016/17 Spanish Super Cup: 2017 Uefa Champions League: 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18 Uefa Super Cup: 2016, 2017 Fifa Club World Cup: 2016, 2017
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
The specs: 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Price, base / as tested Dh222,500 / Dh296,870
Engine 2.0L, flat four-cylinder
Transmission Seven-speed PDK
Power 300hp @ 6,500rpm
Torque 380hp @ 1,950rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.9L / 100km
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 1:39:46.713
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 00:00.908
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-GP 00:12.462
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-GP 00:12.885
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 00:13.276
6. Fernando Alonso, McLaren 01:11.223
7. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 1 lap
8. Sergio Perez, Force India 1 lap
9. Esteban Ocon, Force India 1 lap
10. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren 1 lap
11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso 1 lap
12. Jolyon Palmer, Renault 1 lap
13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas 1 lap
14. Lance Stroll, Williams 1 lap
15. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber 2 laps
16. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber 2 laps
17r. Nico Huelkenberg, Renault 3 laps
r. Paul Di Resta, Williams 10 laps
r. Romain Grosjean, Haas 50 laps
r. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing 70 laps
Tentative schedule of 2017/18 Ashes series
1st Test November 23-27, The Gabba, Brisbane
2nd Test December 2-6, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
3rd Test Dcember 14-18, Waca, Perth
4th Test December 26-30, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
5th Test January 4-8, Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
How to donate
Text the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
6025 - Dh 20
2252 - Dh 50
2208 - Dh 100
6020 - Dh 200
*numbers work for both Etisalat and du
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023 More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Tenet
Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh
Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa
68 - Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
69 - Justin Rose (ENG), Thomas Detry (BEL), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Danny Willett (ENG), Li Haotong (CHN), Matthias Schwab (AUT)
Timeline
1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line
1962
250 GTO is unveiled
1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company
1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens
1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made
1987
F40 launched
1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent
2002
The Enzo model is announced
2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi
2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled
2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives
2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company
2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street
2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary
The biog
Favourite hobby: taking his rescue dog, Sally, for long walks.
Favourite book: anything by Stephen King, although he said the films rarely match the quality of the books
Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption stands out as his favourite movie, a classic King novella
Favourite music: “I have a wide and varied music taste, so it would be unfair to pick a single song from blues to rock as a favourite"
SERIES SCHEDULE
First Test, Galle International Stadium
July 26-30 Second Test, Sinhalese Sports Club Ground
August 3-7 Third Test, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 12-16 First ODI, Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
August 20 Second ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 24 Third ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 27 Fourth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
August 31 Fifth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
September 3 T20, R Premadasa Stadium
September 6
Uefa Nations League: How it Works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
Brief scores:
Toss: Kerala Knights, opted to fielf
Pakhtoons 109-5 (10 ov)
Fletcher 32; Lamichhane 3-17
Kerala Knights 110-2 (7.5 ov)
Morgan 46 not out, Stirling 40
The biog
Most memorable achievement: Leading my first city-wide charity campaign in Toronto holds a special place in my heart. It was for Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women program and showed me the power of how communities can come together in the smallest ways to have such wide impact.
Favourite film: Childhood favourite would be Disney’s Jungle Book and classic favourite Gone With The Wind.
Favourite book: To Kill A Mockingbird for a timeless story on justice and courage and Harry Potters for my love of all things magical.
Favourite quote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill
Favourite food: Dim sum
Favourite place to travel to: Anywhere with natural beauty, wildlife and awe-inspiring sunsets.
Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
UAE squad to face Ireland
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri (vice-captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmad, Zawar Farid, CP Rizwaan, Aryan Lakra, Karthik Meiyappan, Alishan Sharafu, Basil Hameed, Kashif Daud, Adithya Shetty, Vriitya Aravind
