The Warrior Run, a 5K run/walk in Cincinnati’s historic Mariemont Village, will take place Saturday, September 30th and be followed by a family friendly event to raise awareness for mental illness and suicide. The Warrior Run: The Race for Life benefits Surviving the Teens, a Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center program that funds in-school mental health programs at five area colleges and twelve high schools.

The USATF-sanctioned 5K Warrior Run and untimed one-mile walk will be held in historic Mariemont, Ohio. Race time is 5:15pm at the Mariemont Bell Tower on Pleasant Street and the course winds through the tree-lined streets of the Village. The race is followed by a night of music, Bid-n-Buy auction, carnival-style kid’s games, and food available from City Barbecue, LaRosa’s pizza, UDF ice cream, as well as homemade chili, hot dogs, hamburgers, and desserts. At dusk the event will conclude with a family movie in the center of the Bell Tower Park.

Each year suicide takes about 4,600 young lives, making it the second leading cause of death in children ages 15-24 according to the National Institute of Mental Health. In a nationwide survey of high school students, 38 percent said they had serious suicidal thoughts and/or attempted to take their own life. Twenty percent of kids ages 13-18 are living with a mental health condition. Our youth are in crisis.

In conjunction with 1N5’s partnership with CCHMC, Surviving the Teens will go from serving 24 schools up to 75 schools in 2018 and add mental health programming that fits each school’s culture. The program teaches students depression and suicide prevention, provides adaptive ways to cope with stressors, ways to connect and positively communicate with parents, how and where to get help, and how to help themselves or others who may be depressed or suicidal.

Established in 2008 as the James W. Miller Memorial Fund to honor race director Nancy Miller’s late husband, who died by suicide that year, is now known as 1N5, inspired by the statistic that one in five teens and adults suffer from mental illness. The organization facilitates two events with one purpose, The Warrior Run and Spring4Life dinner event. Since 2008, 1N5 has raised over $600,000 and impacted 75,000 university students and 15,000 high school students.

To register for The Warrior Run: https://secure.getmeregistered.com/get_information.php?event_id=125478