Did you know that May is “National Skin Cancer and Melanoma Awareness Month?” As runners, walkers, and triathletes, this is something that should be near and dear to our hearts. After all, we are outside quite a bit, especially during the summer, and we need to protect our skin.
One in 50 people will get melanoma. Think about the last race you did. How many runners were there? Think about how many cases of melanoma that will be. Scary.
Outrun the Sun, Inc., an awesome non-profit dedicated to sun safety and awareness of melanoma and other skin cancers, is launching Outrun the Sun in May, a month-long community outreach campaign that encourages people to be both proactive—and active—in terms of skin cancer prevention.
People worldwide are invited to register online and then run or walk any day in May—from any location—in support of skin cancer education and melanoma research. Participants take a sun safety pledge and receive important sun safety and skin cancer prevention information. They may gather teams, running clubs or participate in honor of someone undergoing melanoma treatment. Registration information is available now at www.outrunthesun.org.
I’m going to participate. How about you?
- Protect your scalp by wearing a hat. Your hair doesn’t protect your scalp and incidence of melanoma of the head and neck is increasing.
- Wear sunscreen with a sun protective factor (SPF) of 30 or higher.
- Wear a sunscreen that protects your skin from both UVA and UVB rays.
- Remember to reapply your sunscreen every two hours (more if you are swimming or sweating.)
- Check the expiration date of your sunscreen. If it is expired, its active ingredients are not active!
- Wear sunglasses that protect against UVA and UVB rays and the risk for ocular melanoma.
- Stay out of direct sun when the rays are the strongest: between 10 am and 4pm.
- Don’t use tanning beds: their ultraviolet rays can increase a person’s risk for melanoma by 75%.
- Wear protective clothing with a built-in UPF factor in the fabric.
- Remember that a white cotton T-shirt has a UPF factor of only five to seven. Wear clothing that is tightly woven and darker in color so less UV radiation reaches your skin.
I’m good about coating my skin in sunscreen on a daily basis. I’m a pale redhead. It’s a necessity. But I’m not always good about wearing sunglasses, and I’m certainly in the sun between 10 and 4. So for May, I’m going to make sure I do better.
Are you in?
Love the idea and would love to link to your list/blog for an upcoming post? OK?
Go for it, Jenny!
Back during medieval times when I was born, the hospital strongly emphasized the importance of being certain that babies were exposed to at least twenty minutes of full body sunlight exposure every day — making use of windows on cold days. This was when vitamin D deficiency was a major concern. And, through my childhood — and teen years — and well into adulthood, there was no thought about excess sun exposure (other than sunburn). I do not think I ever wore sunblock until I was 40. During my various stints in graduate school (late twenties thru late thirties) SUNY Binghamton owned a lovely lake and campsite that had long been unofficially designated as “clothing optional” by student tradition and I think I spent most of my time there wearing nothing but sunglasses. The theory was that you only needed to worry if you got burned and I can only think of one time in my life when I was really sunburned.
Now, of course, I regularly slather on sunblock before outdoor activities, whether running or yard work or whatever… and also check carefully and see a dermatologist almost annually.
You’ve listed some really good points for people to remember.