Toronto Sun

Mayoral race frontrunners out for a cure

Last Updated: October 3, 2010 6:07pm

The two candidates leading the pack in the race to become Toronto’s next mayor took part in the Run for the Cure in downtown Toronto on Sunday.

Frontrunner Rob Ford came out for the 1 km walk with his mom Diane, a cancer survivor.

“Unfortunately, my mom had a mastectomy, had breast cancer a few years ago,” Ford told the Sun, as he cuddled his mom to keep her warm in the morning cold. “She beat it and I’m here to help out all the other mothers and grandmothers and women out there who have fought this disease. Many families have suffered through it and it is a terrible disease ... this is the least we can do is donate.”

Before the run, several participants swarmed the councillor asking him to sign autographs and pose for pictures.

Diane Ford said she was proud of her son.

Ford’s closest rival, George Smitherman, was also running for more personal than political reasons.

Smitherman ran in the 5 km run in memory of his grandmother who passed away from breast cancer.

Towards the end of the race, Smitherman gave Ford a gentle ribbing as he ran by him to the finish line.

The former deputy premier shouted, “Run it out Robbie, run it out,” as he ran past the penny-pinching councillor.

Ford campaign officials called Smitherman’s heckling on the course, “a little bit tacky.”

Smitherman spokesman Erika Mozes said her candidate was just encouraging Ford to run the last leg of the run’s route.

“George is a friendly competitor and that’s what he was doing,” she said.

Ford has suggested during the campaign that events like marathons should take place in parks to spare drivers road closures. The Run for the Cure shut required several road closures.

Ford campaign spokesman Fraser Macdonald said the candidate “never said he was against” events that stopped traffic and was only encouraging city officials thinking outside the box.

“If we are going to put them on city streets we’ve got to have a plan in place to advertise them properly,” Macdonald said. “We’ve always been very supportive of events like these and we’re happy to be here (Sunday). He was just saying there is a frustration out there with road closures ... he’s certainly not thinking of shutting any marathons down or anything like that.”

Your Comments

You could also say that the man you drives drunk, then lies about it could use a little class... Or the guy who describes all Asians as "hard workers" or the guy who feels that as long as your not gay, you probably won't get AIDS... I don't like either of those candidates, but out of the two, I think it is Ford who is in desperate need of class...

Nicholas, October 4th 2010, 9:41am