Sunday's Terry Fox Run was a huge success, says event organizer George Maratos.

Maratos, who took over the organization of the run only a year ago was happy to report Monday morning that this year's donations are up.

"I'm pleased to say that we raised $500 more,” he said. "Which is pretty awesome considering we are a small community.”

Maratos says that $5,858 was raised on Sunday by the teams.

Not only were donations up, overall participation was up to 210.

"All in all I'd say we had more involvement,” Maratos said. 193 runners participated, down from 196, but Maratos wasn't concerned. "It was more intimate this year.”

Maratos says people were showing up well before the 1 p.m. start time.

"(We) had folks show up at 12 and ask if they could start now,” he said.

The event's highlights were the emotional opening ceremonies, where cancer survivors spoke about their experiences and excerpts from Terry Fox's diary were read.

The diary entries, written the year he died, showed a completely unselfish man, Maratos said. In one entry, Fox wrote about borrowing money from his mother in order to buy her a Christmas present on his last Christmas before his death.

"That got a few folks a little emotional,” said Maratos.

The participants did one or two loops of the Millennium Trail, winding along the beautiful Yukon River.

The Millennium Trail is the exact location where Maratos first became interested in getting involved with the Terry Fox Run.

"I was just walking the Millennium Trail a few years ago and didn't even know this was happening,” he said. Maratos then decided to get involved, and has since made it his mission to make the Terry Fox Run an event that Whitehorse residents look forward to every year.

"It was just a matter of trying to bring this event back to life in Whitehorse,” said Maratos. "It looks like its an annual event that people want to participate in.”

It seems Maratos has been successful in bringing the Canada wide event back to Whitehorse.

Maratos says he can't wait to phone the Terry Fox foundation to tell them the amount he will be submitting.

"They don't really know what to expect from the north,” he said. "It's pretty neat to hear them cheering when you tell them you are sending $6,000.”

Bringing participants back to the Terry Fox event wasn't all about getting big numbers, Maratos says. He was also inspired by the Canadian athlete himself, Terry Fox.

"It's not a race, it's more about raising awareness and keeping the legacy alive,” said Maratos, who was inspired by Fox's unselfish nature.

"(He was) a pretty remarkable athlete and cancer survivor just in terms of what he was able to accomplish,” he said.

Maratos would like to thank all the people involved in this year's Terry Fox Run, and expresses his gratitude for the support he has received since taking on the challenge of organizing the run.

"Hopefully we can build on it for next year,” he said.