Runners set off on the Glow Your Mind 5K Saturday evening in downtown Jamestown. More than 100 runners and walkers participated in the event. P-J photo by Jordan W. Patterson

Outside the The North West Arena on Third Street was vibrant and colorful Friday night.

Community members gathered to raise awareness of mental health by participating in the Second Annual 5K Glow Your Mind. DJ Xcite Sound was providing music for the runner before the race and would be supplying music for an after party.

The 5K is a collaboration between Chautauqua Tapestry, Department of Mental Hygiene and Chautauqua Striders. Runners were equipped with colorful neon vests to remain in view of traffic and to stay within the theme of the 5K.

Coordinator for the Community Alliance for Suicide Prevention Victoria Patti spoke about the importance of the event.

“The idea behind ‘Glow Your Mind’ was to sort of … (bring) that stigma of suicide and mental illness and mental health out of the darkness,” Patti said. “We’re looking at creating some awareness tonight but having a good time and we thought a glow run was something unique to this area and it’s a really great way to get people out to learn more about the cause.”

Last year’s event produced an estimated 125 registered participants, with this year’s 5K producing anywhere from 135 to 170 participants.

“We had done that for a few years and we felt like we really needed to do something a little exciting and get people downtown (and) change it to a different theme,” said Annie Rosenthal, public relations coordinator for Chautauqua Tapestry.

The money made from the 5k will go directly toward suicide prevention efforts in Chautauqua County. The proceeds will funnel to the Community Alliance for Suicide Prevention.

“We focus on community awareness events, we do trainings in the community where we work with mental health providers on responding to suicides and this is just a way to really raise funds for that group,” Patti said.

The Jamestown Police Department was present in directing traffic and temporarily blocked parts of the streets for runners. The Glow Your Mind 5K produced a total of 30 volunteers to coordinate the run.

“I’ve been doing this work since 2010 and throughout the years, we have really noticed that talking about mental health, really creating an outlet for people to receive services and support … has become very important to us,” Patti said. “I think that throughout the years we’ve really seen an increase in people approaching us and letting us know that these events really matter to them.”

The Chautauqua County Crisis Hot Line had tiny booklets for people to take on some of the tables at the 5K. The booklets listed out the warning signs of suicide.

Among the runners at Glow Your Mind was Giovanna Accordino. Participants were allowed to either run or walk and Accordino said she’d be doing, “a little bit of both… I’m going to try my best.”

Accordino was interested in helping with mental illness and is majoring in psychology and acting at the State University of New York at Fredonia.

Runners and walkers started off down Third Street with the flashing lights from their police escort leading the way into the sunset and through the night.

The Chautauqua County Crisis Hotline is 1-800-724-0461.