{"id":31629,"date":"2017-06-01T06:00:13","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T10:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=31629"},"modified":"2018-10-01T13:08:23","modified_gmt":"2018-10-01T17:08:23","slug":"meet-bill-coon-organizer-triathlete-and-the-least-competitive-person-he-knows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/meet-bill-coon-organizer-triathlete-and-the-least-competitive-person-he-knows\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Bill Coon, organizer, triathlete and the least competitive person he knows"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Some readers may know Huntsville pharmacist Bill Coon as an affable and knowledgeable part of Huntsville’s health care mix but thousands of participants in the annual Terry Fox Run know him as the long-time organizer of the event.<\/p>\n

After 20 years on the committee and 10 years as the organizer, Coon feels that it is time for a new hand on the helm of the organization. \u201cIt is time for someone else to experience the same sense of pride and awe in our community that I have felt for all these years.\u201d He gets a little emotional as he downplays his contribution to the Terry Fox Run and focuses on what it has given to him. \u201cEach year as the participants head out I hang back and take a moment to reflect on who they may be running, walking or biking for prior to joining them. It is just so moving to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coon is gratified by the relationships he’s formed and the people he has met locally and as a part of the Terry Fox Foundation. \u201cI would never have met some of these exceptional people had it not been for my involvement in the run.<\/p>\n

As to what it takes to run the event, he says, \u201cYou need to be organized, able to delegate and to care about the cause. Aside from the week or so prior to the run it really isn’t onerous.\u201d He laughs, \u201cWhen I think about it, I actually don’t have some of the strengths you ideally need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coon knows that many people remain very aware of what Terry Fox accomplished and inspired. He believes that it is as imperative to pass on the message of Terry Fox to a younger generation as it is to raise funds. \u201cI’d love to see some younger, social media savvy people take up the torch,\u201d he urges. \u201cPeople of all ages are welcome but the demographic that is least represented is the younger one.\u201d He adds, \u201cThere is always a danger of losing ground especially after so many years. Our volunteer base remains robust, but the participation is dwindling just a bit every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Terry Fox is my Canadian hero. His single, selfless act personifies for me what Canada is all about, which is caring for each other.Bill Coon<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Coon is a very nice guy but he doesn’t shy away from controversy either. He reflects on the few times that he’s been challenged as to the benefit of fund-raising for cancer since there seems to be more of it all the time. He carefully explains, \u201cWhat I remind people is that we are living longer so the opportunity to get cancer is increased. Plus, diagnosing of cancer is happening earlier so it’s being treated sooner. In the past, someone might have died before they were diagnosed.\u201d He concludes his defense of raising funds for cancer with one poignant fact: Terry Fox had osteogenic sarcoma, which when he was diagnosed had a 20 per cent survival rate. Today the rate of success for that cancer is 80 per cent. Progress is being made.<\/p>\n

Bill Coon has participated in the Terry Fox Run almost every year since it began in 1981. He has one regret: in 1980 Terry Fox’s route brought him to within 20 minutes of Coon’s parents’ home in Caledonia. He didn’t go to see him. He shakes his head, \u201cI wasn’t working, I had nothing really important going on but I just didn’t make the effort.\u201d He sighs, \u201cIt was a long time ago but I live with that. And I learned a lesson from it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t