Saturday morning brought out runners of all different ages, fitness levels, and stories to raise awareness to suicide through a charity run.

Each runner has a different story to tell about why they are running for the cause.

Joyce King, coordinator of The Suicide Prevention Coalition said there is a myth about suicide in the African American community.

“In the African-American community,” there is a myth that “black people don’t kill themselves, and that is so not true,” King said.

King wants to bring awareness to suicide and to dispel some of the myths and stigmas that surround it.

Donna Randoll decided to do Run for Life because she lost her brother to suicide and wanted to raise awareness to the cause. Randoll started running to lower her blood pressure and now averages 25 miles a week. Randoll works at the police department and runs to the fire department during her lunch break and she also runs around the city.

Sophomores Mechanical Engineering major Megan Cannon and Psychology major Jordan Hall heard about the run in their Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority chapter meeting.

“A lot of us thought it was a really good cause to support, so we got a group together,” Hall said.

Both women ran cross country in high school but Hall has not kept up with running since.

Run for Life is put on by the LOSS team, an initiative of The Suicide Prevention Coalition.

This is the first event the LOSS team has hosted and over 350 runners participated at Trinity Park.

According to Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, 30,000 Americans die from suicide each year. Furthermore, among people ages 15 to 24 years old, suicide is the third highest leading cause of death. To look for warning signs of suicide and how to prevent it, go to www.save.org.