With cold weather hopefully behind us, many people are moving outdoors to enjoy the spring days and exercise.

If you happen to see Wanda Martin outside jogging around town, she’s not just doing it for pleasure – she’s also running for a cause.

On March 27, Martin and several other residents will be traveling to Birmingham for the Second Annual Rumpshaker 5K Walk/Run, which benefits colon cancer awareness and research.

It’s an event that has a deeply personal meaning for Martin, who lost her daughter Stephanie to colon cancer a year and a half ago at the age of 35.

“It seems that we’re seeing more colon cancer in younger people, and we want to raise awareness and money for research,” Martin said. “You think about colon cancer as being a problem with older people, but it affects people of all ages.”

Colon cancer is one of the top four most common kinds of fatal cancer, along with lung, breast and prostate cancer.

Last year, a group of Stephanie’s friends wanted to participate in the run and formed a team, which Martin took part in.

The team was named “Martin’s Movement” and took the event’s first-place prize for having the most team members and raising the most money.

“We’re going to do it again this year, and I know we’ve got a few people from here that are going up to run in it,” Martin said.

Besides traveling to Birmingham, Martin also said she hopes to bring some awareness of colon cancer to Crenshaw County.

“My hopes are to do something like this here in the county this fall,” she said. “Maybe we can do a 5k run here.”

For more information about the Rumpshakers run, visit www.rumpshaker5k.com.

More information about colon cancer and its prevention can be found at www.preventcancer.org.