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Home News Exciting family event to help save lives and raise prostate cancer awareness

Exciting family event to help save lives and raise prostate cancer awareness

Published: Tuesday, August 17, 2010

More than 217,000 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010, according to the American Cancer Society. More than 32,000 will die from prostate cancer.

While prostate cancer is a man’s disease, every man, woman and child in East Tennessee can help fight prostate cancer on Aug. 28 by participating in the third annual THE MAN RUN for Prostate Cancer Awareness. THE MAN RUN is a family event, featuring a 5K run and a one-mile fun walk, that honors prostate cancer survivors, raises awareness of prostate cancer and supports free prostate cancer screenings and educational programs throughout the community by the University of Tennessee Medical Center Cancer Institute.

“We know that one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime, said Dr. Paul Hatcher, a urologist at UT Medical Center. “Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men. It’s also the most common type of cancer in men, excluding skin cancers. Early detection measures such as prostate cancer screenings are crucial to boosting survival rates. That’s why THE MAN RUN is so important to raise awareness and provide prostate cancer screenings for men in our community at risk for developing the disease.”

This year’s THE MAN RUN begins at 8 a.m. at UT Medical Center Saturday, August 28. The event includes a 5K race on a certified course as well as a 1-mile fun walk. Online registration for the event is available at www.manrun.org. For more information, visit www.utmedicalcenter.org or call 865.305.8577.

“THE MAN RUN allows families to come together for a fun event while also supporting the extremely important cause,” said Dr. Wes White, a UT Medical Center urologist. “THE MAN RUN for Prostate Cancer Awareness started in 2008 when a group of patients and employees of our Cancer Institute decided to create the region’s first community-wide event to recognize prostate cancer as a significant health issue and to celebrate prostate cancer survivors while promoting early detection of prostate cancer through screening.”

Individual and team entries are both available for THE MAN RUN. A Sleep In for the Man category also is optional for those who wish to donate but are unable to attend the event. Additional donations are accepted online and are tax deductible.

THE MAN RUN for Prostate Cancer Awareness is a part of the national Prostate Awareness and Cancer Education (PACE) race series to increase national awareness of prostate cancer and men’s health issues. For more information about the PACE race series, visit www.pacerace.org. Event organizers would like to recognize support for THE MAN RUN from the SunTrust Foundation as well as from media sponsors WBIR-TV, The Sports Animal and News Talk 98.7.

For more information, visit the Cancer Institute at UT Medical Center.