| Sources |
- [S25] Smith Mortuary Company, www.smithmortuary.com, 19 Mar 2008.
Dennis R. Harmon obituary
- [S27] The Daily Times, http://www.thedailytimes.com/, (Blount County, Tennessee), 12 Jun 2008.
The skin you're in: 10K focuses on melanoma awareness
By Melanie Tucker
of The Daily Times Staff
As runners prepare to participate in the 10K event being held Saturday in Alcoa, their equipment list will include a good pair of shoes, lightweight clothing -- and sunscreen.
It's the first-ever Rayz Awareness of Melanoma event here in Blount County, organized by Tim Richardson, a local resident who lost his best friend to skin cancer. Working with him on the 10K is Barbara Stinnett, executive secretary for the City of Alcoa. Her husband, Ed, was diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma in January 2004. He died in November 2005 at the age of 58.
Richardson is a motivational speaker and was a guest at the International Association of Administrative Professionals meeting last February. Barbara was in the audience and introduced herself after the speech. When Richardson decided weeks ago to get this RayZ Awareness run off the ground here, he knew Stinnett had to come on board.
"You need to be the face for this," he said he told her.
Important cause
Stinnett agreed to lend a hand and her voice to the important cause. She said the message about the importance of using sunscreen to prevent skin cancer must sound off loud and clear.
"We grew up in the generation before sunscreen," Stinnett said about herself and her husband. "Parents need to start with their children now, and we all need to avoid the mid-day sun and always use sunscreen."
The Rayz Awareness of Melanoma 10K will also feature a 5K and 1-mile fun run. Proceeds from the run will benefit the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund, which Richardson and friends established after Walter was diagnosed with melanoma. Richardson and Walter met while high school students and remained best friends until Walter's death in 1998. He left behind a wife and two children. Walter was only 36.
Since starting the foundation, Richardson said they have raised close to $500,000 for melanoma research and financial support for those diagnosed.
"I get letters two to three times a month from people, and a lot of them are very young," Richardson said. "Unfortunately some of them die."
Damage is done
Brooke Nix, a runner and physician's assistant, is also helping Richardson with the run Saturday. She works at Fort Sanders West in the Medi-Spa Knoxville Dermatology Group. She said she is seeing more and more young people, especially women, developing skin cancer.
"Even with all of the education that's our there, kids are still getting in the tanning bed," she said. "We are seeing melanomas on bottoms and places that shouldn't be seeing the sun."
Nix said research shows that tanning bed rays are much more dangerous than the rays emitted from the sun. The key to staying healthy outdoors is to always use sunscreen, she said.
According too the American Academy of Dermatology, skin cancer is the most prevalent of all types of cancer. It is estimated that more than 1 million Americans will develop skin cancer every year. Overexposure to sunlight or tanning lamps is the most preventable risk factor for skin cancer. A sunscreen with at least a 15 Sun Protection Factor is recommended anytime you are outdoors. And it should be re-applied every two hours, even on cloudy days, according the AAD.
There have been Rayz Awareness runs in Colorado and Florida this year, and now one in Alcoa. Richardson said he has no way of knowing how many will turn out for this inaugural event. It is something he wants to continue.
"I would love to have a couple hundred people, even if they just come to cheer," he said. "Hopefully this is the kind of thing that will gather steam."
Stinnett's husband was active outdoors, coaching softball and working with Eagleton Little League. Walter was a lifeguard as a teenager and an athlete. He never used sunscreen.
This run will hopefully provide a fun competition and an all important, potentially life-saving message, these event organizers said.
As for the start time, 7:30 p.m., most runners will appreciate that on what could be a hot and sunny day.
"I love the time of day," Nix said.
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