I was about to sign up for the Pittsburgh Half and they had a blurb on their page about talking with the charity you wanted to run for to see if they have specific runner registration. I think this was mostly for the charities that work with the Pittsburgh Marathon, but thought it was a good idea and contacted the Colon Cancer Alliance to tell them about my personal challenge for next year. (I just realized I haven't posted the email I sent out, I'll do that!) I am so glad that I emailed them! I was already planning on running the DC Undy5000 in September that they organize, but I am really excited to get to work with them a bit more. They all seem really helpful and excited about my personal challenge. We're going to get me set up on the fundraising portion their website and they are letting me use one of their logos on my racing shirt. It's all coming together and I love it.
I didn't know much about colon cancer until I started reading the CCA's website. I'll admit, I didn't ask a lot of questions about it either. All I knew was my grandpa was in and out of the hospital. Did you know that colorectal cancer is in the top 5 of most commonly diagnosed cancer? I had no idea. Skin, lung, breast and prostate cancers are the others in the top 5. Now those we hear about. Some of them quite a bit.
Another fact for you: 7 out of 10 people with colon cancer don't have any symptoms. I would imagine that leads to this statistic:
"Colorectal cancer is the second leading cancer killer in the United States, but it doesn't have to be. If everybody aged 50 or older has regular screening test, as many as 80% of deaths from colorectal cancer could be prevented." - CCA Website
Go Get Screened!! For more information check out: www.ccalliance.org
