March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month in North Carolina and across the country. So get your rear in gear this month and lace up your running shoes at one of the Colon Cancer Coalition’s six Get Your Rear in Gear events to be held in the Tar Heel State in 2014.
All Get Your Rear in Gear events across the country (in 2014 the Colon Cancer Coalition will host approximately 45) are planned by local volunteers with the goal of raising awareness and educating the public about the nation’s No. 2 cancer killer. An event in Raleigh kicks off the month with a 5k run/walk on March 1 at Fred Fletcher Park. This race is planned each year by the staff and nurses at Raleigh Endoscopy Center.
Get Your Rear in Gear – Charlotte will be held on Saturday, March 8, at Independence Park. The race is planned by two colon cancer survivors, Mary-Karen Bierman and Susan Falco, and the daughter of a colon cancer survivor, Brandy Reese, with help from Charlotte Gastroenterology & Hepatology and Novant Health. Over the past five years this event has helped elevate awareness and provide support to those affected by colorectal cancer in the Charlotte area.
Just down the road, also on March 8, join the 5k run/walk in Winston-Salem, an afternoon event at BB&T Ballpark offering a unique spin on the classic road race. This race is planned by staff from Wake Forest Baptist Health.
March 22 offers another chance to lace up your running shoes in the fight against colon cancer in Hickory and Asheville. The second annual race in Hickory is planned by doctors and nurses at Gastroenterology Associates. The inaugural race in Asheville is hosted by Asheville Gastroenterology Associates, and replaces an existing colon cancer 5K run/walk in that community.
A March 5k doesn’t fit into your training plan? October will give you one last chance to support the cause in 2014. In its second year, Get Your Rear in Gear – Kinston is organized by Monique Hicks, a Kinston woman who lost her mother to colon cancer.
By partnering with the North Carolina Cancer Prevention and Control Branch the Colon Cancer Coalition hopes to encourage all North Carolinians to live healthy lives and be screened for this preventable disease.
More information and registration for all of these events can be found at GetYourRearInGear.com.
