Terry was a Royal Navy Physical Training Instructor attached to the 1st Frigate Squadron on board HMS Dido visiting South Africa when he decided to enter a ships team into the Cape Town Big Walk. Walking 22.5 miles from Simonstown to Cape Town that was November 1967.
Terry left the Royal Navy in 1968 and settled in Edinburgh. He approached the Edinburgh Evening News about sponsorship of a walk. The Edinburgh Evening News agreed and was main sponsor from the inaugural walk in Edinburgh in December 1968 until 1996.