An event focusing on mental health awareness is returning to Muscatine for the second year.
The Next Gen Motors 5K for Driving Mental Health Awareness will take place on Saturday, Sept. 23, at 9:30 a.m. The event will have a 5K and a one-mile walk for participants to choose from.
Poster for the event.
The route starts at Next Gen Motors in Muscatine. It will go behind on Cleveland Street across to HNI then down the path to the pond at Weed Park where you will turn around and come back, said Denise Greenshaw of Next Gen Motors.
“It’s a really cool route,” race chair Ashley Loveless said. “For people who run in town, it’s off the beaten path. It’s not any of the normal running paths.”
Along the route, there will be uplifting messages from Gray Matters on signs, Loveless added. A musician will also be playing live music on the route for walkers and runners to enjoy.
A new addition to the event this year is a free yoga class at 7:30 a.m. before pre-registration begins. Registration is available now in the Next Gen Motors 5K event or registration can be done the day of.
“You can register the day of,” Loveless said. “The one caveat to that is we ordered extra shirts but you never know how many to order.”
Both Greenshaw and Loveless hope there are more participants than last year.
“I think we had about 80 participants,” Greenshaw said. “This year we have at least 80 if not 90 already registered and we know there will be a lot of day of registrations so please come out. It’s going to be a great event and it’s for a good cause. ”
Local resources will have tables of information at the event. Unity Pointe and Eastern Iowa Mobile Crisis are the two examples Loveless gave. Artie’s Food Truck will be there
Part of the proceeds from the race will go to Micaela’s Hope, an organization started by the Brunson family who lost a daughter to mental health issues. Micaela’s mom will be a speaker at the event.
Haley Debreeze will be another speaker, Loveless said. She is one of the organizers of “The Gray Matters.” A website that lists resources for those who need help with mental health issues. They also provide help with funding to see a therapist.
September is Mental Health Awareness Month. This is why Loveless and Greenshaw wanted to hold the event this month. Last year, the planning started late for the 5K so there was only one sponsor. This year there are 18 sponsors. Both Loveless and Greenshaw the sponsors have the costs down for registration costs.
“We had a couple of families that pulled together and wanted to be a part of it without the recognition, so that’s a pretty cool thing,” Loveless said.
