I laughed, I cried, I directed a 5k.

Hopefully this will help explain the blog hiatus I've been on lately.

The suicide prevention program I was directing with a colleague at a continuation high school culminated with a 5k run/walk at Dockweiler beach in LA the weekend before Thanksgiving. The goal of the 5k was two-fold: to give the students who participated in our program an opportunity to run their first 5k and reach the goal that they set for themselves at the beginning of the program; and to increase community awareness that suicide is preventable.

Southern California decided to deal us a weather wild card on Sunday morning. We arrived to Dockweiler at 5am for set up in a torrential downpour and wind that was almost strong enough to knock you over. Thank goodness my mother was there to give us the rally cry the rest of us were too cold to muster. Sure enough, the weather cleared by about 6:30 - before any of the participants showed up.

We had an amazing turn out considering the forecast. I'm really at a loss of words for how to describe the rest. We had high school students that were willing to wake up at 6:30 on a Sunday morning to come run a race that two grad students planned for them. What more can you ask for?

If you're interested in learning more about suicide prevention or other youth development programs that help prevent suicide risk factors, I recommend checking out Didi Hirsch, Trevor Project, Girls on the Run, and our website for STRIDES.