ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Runners laced up last week at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) for the base’s 5K Run for Mental Health Awareness.
The event is designed to spark conversations about mental health and on-base resources—especially in Alaska, where isolation can hit service members hard.
“Movement is important. Movement and community are probably the two biggest things we have,” Capt. Matthew Kessler, a clinical psychologist with the U.S. Air Force 673rd Medical Group, told participants prior to the race.
It’s advice service members provided people with during Mental Health Awareness Month.
“Just your unit, your neighbors, just make sure you’re talking to somebody,” Senior Airman Brennigan Bauer, a mental health technician with the U.S. Air Force, said. “Because especially during the winter months, it could definitely get lonely.”
Organizers provided mental health resources and information throughout the event.
“So, here at the Mental Health Clinic, our goal is to make sure everyone’s good, which is the whole mission, basically,” Senior Airman Lily Cuamatzi-Portillo, a mental health technician with the U.S. Air Force, said. “It’s important to know that it’s okay to experience some low mood, some anxiety, it’s normal.”
The race, which took place May 28, marked the final event JBER put on in May for Mental Health Awareness Month. According to Cuamatzi-Portillo, around 300 people were signed up for the race, a significant jump from last year, when only around 25 people were registered.
“I’ve only been here for two months, and my goal was to just get out here and hopefully do something big,” Cuamatzi-Portillo, said. “I think we hit that mark today.”
The community-wide event was open to all service branches and their dependents.
“Everybody thinks mental health is oftentimes sitting in a therapy room behind a closed door talking about emotions and feelings and processing stuff for quite some time,” Kessler said. “When I reflected on my own experiences, mental health is oftentimes just movement, right? The number of times I’ve started to run irritable, stressed out, not happy with the day or whatever. And then halfway through that run, I start to feel a little bit better.”
The run comes at a time when the Department of Defense continues to see rates of suicide decrease across branches. In 2024, the DOD reported that 471 service members died by suicide, a roughly 11% decrease from 2023.
Alaska, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has some of the highest suicide rates in the country.
“Mental health is important to discuss because it’s often overlooked or historically was often overlooked in terms of the health facets, especially military,” Bauer said. “Mental health is incredibly important to our military members.”
Mental health, according to the U.S. Air Force, still carries a stigma. It’s their hope that events like this will help break it.
“We’re essentially here to show that it doesn’t need to be that way, that mental health is as important as physical health, that we need to focus on that,” Bauer said.
Mental Health Resources — who you can call for help
Service members and dependents can find mental health resources at True North, chaplains and Military OneSource. Service members can also contact the following groups at the following outlets on JBER.
Mental Health Clinic — call (907) 580-2181
Military and Family Readiness Center — 907-552-4943
If you or a loved one needs someone to talk to, you can call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or visit its website for additional resources.
You can also reach out to the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741).
These services are open to everybody.
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