Spurred by their own tragedy about four years ago, an area family is bringing the first “expansion” event for a national effort to fight melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, to Rochester this summer.
Since melanoma can be caused by sun exposure, the first Outrun the Sun 5K walk and run in Rochester is being held in the evening, to keep participants out of the sun’s harsh daytime rays.
“This is not a ‘memorial’ race in any way; we want to raise awareness and research dollars to fight melanoma,” said Rochester native Anne Marie Bell Dowden, who now lives in Indianapolis, Ind., where Outrun the Sun got started.
Outrun the Sun has become a leader in the fight against melanoma. The group wants to expand to an event in cities across the nation, much like the Susan G. Komen Race for The Cure, but the Aug. 3 race, being planned at Webster Park, is the first "expansion team,” so to speak.
“How we got started is simple,” Dowden explained. “My dad, Thomas Bell Sr., a lifelong Rochester resident and business owner, was perfectly healthy one day and was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma the next (in July 2007). Treatments had not changed much in 20 years and the doctors gave us little hope. Ten months later (in May 2008), he was dead.” He was 68.
Dowden has now been actively volunteering for the cause in Indianapolis for four years. Her mother, Linda Bell of Pittsford, and one of her sisters, Maureen Hyde of Irondequoit, traveled to Indianapolis to be part of last year’s Outrun the Sun event there.
“And our family started learning the horrible facts, among them: Melanoma has the fastest-growing incidence rate, and once it is internal, you have very little chance of surviving,” Dowden said.
Dowden didn’t have to work too hard to get her family, including six brothers and sisters, involved in expanding Outrun the Sun in their hometown. Family friends Anne and Mike Bishop have also been instrumental with the planning process.
There is an actual race, Hyde said, but more than that, there’s a Sunset Festival that includes a kid zone, vendors, educational booths and more.
“We just want to bring awareness about melanoma and raise funds for education and research,” said Hyde, who is a sixth-grade teacher at Athena Middle School in Greece. “We want to get more people on board.”
Spurred by their own tragedy about four years ago, an area family is bringing the first “expansion” event for a national effort to fight melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, to Rochester this summer.
Since melanoma can be caused by sun exposure, the first Outrun the Sun 5K walk and run in Rochester is being held in the evening, to keep participants out of the sun’s harsh daytime rays.
“This is not a ‘memorial’ race in any way; we want to raise awareness and research dollars to fight melanoma,” said Rochester native Anne Marie Bell Dowden, who now lives in Indianapolis, Ind., where Outrun the Sun got started.
Outrun the Sun has become a leader in the fight against melanoma. The group wants to expand to an event in cities across the nation, much like the Susan G. Komen Race for The Cure, but the Aug. 3 race, being planned at Webster Park, is the first "expansion team,” so to speak.
“How we got started is simple,” Dowden explained. “My dad, Thomas Bell Sr., a lifelong Rochester resident and business owner, was perfectly healthy one day and was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma the next (in July 2007). Treatments had not changed much in 20 years and the doctors gave us little hope. Ten months later (in May 2008), he was dead.” He was 68.
Dowden has now been actively volunteering for the cause in Indianapolis for four years. Her mother, Linda Bell of Pittsford, and one of her sisters, Maureen Hyde of Irondequoit, traveled to Indianapolis to be part of last year’s Outrun the Sun event there.
“And our family started learning the horrible facts, among them: Melanoma has the fastest-growing incidence rate, and once it is internal, you have very little chance of surviving,” Dowden said.
Dowden didn’t have to work too hard to get her family, including six brothers and sisters, involved in expanding Outrun the Sun in their hometown. Family friends Anne and Mike Bishop have also been instrumental with the planning process.
There is an actual race, Hyde said, but more than that, there’s a Sunset Festival that includes a kid zone, vendors, educational booths and more.
“We just want to bring awareness about melanoma and raise funds for education and research,” said Hyde, who is a sixth-grade teacher at Athena Middle School in Greece. “We want to get more people on board.”
One of the event’s founding members, Anita J. Day, is expected to attended the first Rochester event.
“It was nice when this came along because it gave us a mission,” Hyde said. The family has formed the Rochester Melanoma Action Group, which will be the official host of Rochester’s Outrun the Sun event. Helendale Dermatology, which is based in Irondequoit, has already signed on as the host sponsor, with additional sponsorships coming in from Lucid, Inc.; Dermatology Associates of Rochester, Skin Search, Wegmans, the Locust Club and Barrington Park Dermatological Associates. More sponsors are welcome.
Greece Police Chief Todd Baxter has signed on as the event’s honorary chairman, and Jeremy Newman of radio station WBEE 92.5 has agreed to be the first emcee.
The action group plans to hold Outrun the Sun annually in Rochester.
“We’re very serious about making this into a large community event,” Hyde said. It’s at Webster Park, she added, “because it’s a nice place to grow an event.”
Hyde, a mother of three children, ages 11, 9 and 5, has already completed five 5K runs, but says she runs “more for exercise” than competitively.
“And this certainly isn’t just about our family,” Hyde stressed. “We welcome all people who have been affected or impacted by melanoma, or other forms of skin cancer, in Rochester.”
