To increase awareness of National Suicide Prevention Month in September, the NAS Patuxent River Suicide Prevention Coordinator Team sponsored the seventh annual Laps for Life walk/run/team relay at the track behind the fire station and Building 1489 Sept. 21.

The event was open to all on the installation to either walk or run as formal teams or single participants. Formal teams comprised of two to 17 members walked or ran one to 17 laps around the track, representing the fact that every 17 minutes, a life is lost to suicide.

Before the event, Capt. Scott Starkey, NAS Patuxent River commanding officer, spoke to the crowd and thanked them for their participation in such a meaningful event. Starkey reminded everyone present that the key to suicide prevention is action, being there for someone in need, and relying on the "Ask, Care, Treat" or ACT method of helping someone who may be struggling.

Twila Kopaniasz, NAVAIR Total Force Strategy & Management Department, also spoke before the event, remarking that the event had the highest participation of any previous Laps for Life events on base. Kopaniasz then read aloud a poem called "We Remember Them," in memory of those lost to suicide. After each stanza, the crowd repeated in unison, "We remember them" while a bell was tolled for the lost.

After opening remarks, the runners and walkers began the race while volunteers rang a bell every minute and blew a horn every 17 minutes to remind participants that every minute someone thinks of committing suicide and every 17 minutes a person is lost to suicide.

"We're here to honor and commemorate the importance of those who either have suicidal thoughts or those who have died as a result of suicide," said Michael Land, athletic coordinator for Team Red, White, and Blue, a team running the event. "There is help available. You have people who care about you, who are willing to help you. Despite the sense you might have that no one knows what you're going through or cares, we want you to know that that is not true."

Team Red, White, and Blue is a veterans service organization designed to enrich the lives of veterans through physical activity and social connection, said Land. He explained that in order to enrich the life of a veteran, sometimes it requires encouraging them to stay alive. The team ran with photos pinned to their jerseys of veterans who had been lost to suicide in order to commemorate their service, and bring awareness to others of the personal toll of suicide.

Before and during the event, participants and spectators also filled out cards in memory of loved ones who may have been suicide victims, which were hung on the "Memory Wall" fence during the relay in their memory.

For more information on the Navy's Suicide Prevention Program, visit www.suicide.navy.mil or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK.

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, talk to a friend, chaplain, minister, co-worker, supervisor, your command's suicide prevention coordinator or a mental health professional. Remember: You are never alone. There is always hope, and most important, life is worth living.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, visit www.navy.mil/.