Yukoners are being encouraged to come out and raise money for a great cause Sunday at the 2008 Terry Fox Run.

The annual event will be held at SS Klondike, where participants will make their way onto the Millennium Trail.

"The big thing about the run is it's not a race," said George Maratos, organizer for the 2008 Terry Fox Run. "There is no timing, no first place. It's just more about raising awareness about cancer research and Terry Fox's Legacy."

Registration will be at 11:30 a.m. and the run itself will begin around 12:30 p.m.

There is no fee to register and it will just consist of a donation of personal choice.

One of the nice things about the Terry Fox Run is participants are free to complete the course in any way they desire. Popular methods in the past have been running, biking, walking and rollerblading.

The course will include the entire Millennium Trail, which is around 5-km. Participants will have the choice of doing one or two laps.

Maratos said he hopes to have 300 people participate this year, which would be an increase of around 150 from the 2007 total.

Last year's lower than usual turnout at the annual event was what made Maratos want to take on the organizing role for the first time.

He said he is confident about being able to get 300 people to participate.

"I think 300 is a realistic goal, especially for the kind of community we have here," Maratos said.

"You look at all of the events that go on here, turkey trot, run for mom, the cancer relay, the Klondike Road Relay, the bike relay. This town definitely has some crazy athletic folks and people that are just really good about supporting one another and raising awareness about different issues.

I think the big thing with cancer is it does affect everyone, no matter the colour of your skin, your age, everyone is impacted by cancer in some way or another."

This year's event will include live music and a barbecue, which Maratos hopes will add to the celebration.

Similar to the registration, the barbecue will be by donation. Water, coffee and hot chocolate will also be available.

At Sunday's run, there will also be seven T-shirts for sale for $20 each, however more are available for purchase at www.terryfoxrun.org.

The T-shirt features a graphic illustration of Fox, which includes the van that followed him on his Marathon of Hope.

The image is of Fox running along the Trans Canada Highway with the van closely behind and the sun rising behind him.

The significance of the sun rising is because it's was Fox's favourite time to run as well as the time that he passed away.

In the image, as Fox runs forward the road transforms into a strand of DNA, which symbolizes Fox's goal to eliminate cancer through research.

Maratos has competed in 15 Terry Fox Run's, including six in the Yukon, said there are a couple of things that make this event special in Whitehorse.

"I think the venue, it's so beautiful right now with the (fall) colours," he said. "Just the fact that you have this historic site of the SS Klondike as our backdrop and also you are running with your friends and your community. A smaller community you can kind of finish the run and you know the folks that you are running with. So I think it's a little different than when I used to run it in Victoria."

Maratos said it would be great to be able to send around $5,000 back to the Terry Fox Foundation.

"I think it's more about getting the community out and remember the fact that the Terry Fox Run is still going on," he said. "Any amount is obviously great, but whatever people can donate will be accepted with open arms."