I did track, high jump and triple jump, which means I’m outside in the Florida sun a lot. So I had to look into this one for selfish reasons.
Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, according to the CDC. And about 90% of nonmelanoma skin cancers are linked to UV rays from the sun. That’s a huge chunk of cancer that comes down to one thing we can actually control.
The Skin Cancer Foundation has advice specifically for outdoor athletes and runners: use SPF 50+, reapply every two hours (or after you sweat a lot), and remember that bad sunburns when you’re young raise your risk of skin cancer later. Basically, the burns you get now can come back to haunt you in 20 years.
I’ll be honest, I used to never wear sunscreen at practice. Now it’s just part of my kit, like spikes and a water bottle. It takes 30 seconds and it’s one of the easiest pieces of prevention there is. A tan is not worth a cancer scare down the road.
Bottom line: Sunscreen is 30 seconds of prevention against the most common cancer in the country.
Read more: Sun protection for runners and athletes — The Skin Cancer Foundation
The Global Pulse 