The Dexter-Ann Arbor Run (DXA2) is an annual race offering a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and kids’ run. This year, NAMI Washtenaw County participated as a nonprofit partner for the first time. Thanks to the volunteers, fundraisers, donors and Champion Runners who supported NAMI WC at this year’s event, we were able to raise $3,275 to help support our free mental health programs. Two Champion Runners, Liz and Cassie, in addition to many volunteers and donors, helped make this achievement possible. Champion Runners are people who chose to register for the race and fundraise for NAMI WC. We spoke to Liz Zhang about why she chose to support NAMI WC at the race this year.
How has running impacted your mental health?
In my 20s, after working 60~70 hours per week for a few years, my physical health was showing various complaints. So, I joined a running club and started running with them twice a week. Little did I know that running would become the best medicine that has carried me through the hardest times in my life, giving me a structure to keep a balanced sleep schedule and diet, providing valuable social interactions and positive support when I felt lonely and isolated, and helping me find my current husband when I first moved to Ann Arbor. Now, I’m an active member of several running groups. It has become my identity. I am a runner. I run on good days and I run on bad days. Just last Saturday, I was in a really bad mood and my body didn’t feel like running. But I knew that if I went for a good run with my friends, even though the first few miles might be hard, I would feel much better after. I did.
How long have you been participating in DXA2? What do you like about it?
I moved to Ann Arbor in the Fall of 2015. I started running the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run in 2016. I did the half-marathon with my husband (then boyfriend) in 2016. I ran the 10K in 2017 when I was pregnant with my daughter. I ran the 5K in 2018 and 2019, pushing my daughter in a stroller. The race had to go virtual after the pandemic started and I also took a break. I ran the half-marathon in 2022 and 2023. This was my 6th year running the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run.
More importantly, my daughter has been running the Dexter-Ann Arbor Kids Run since 2022. She ran the 1 Miler this year!
Can you tell us a bit about your involvement with NAMI WC and why NAMI WC’s mission is important to you?
NAMI East Bay was my extended family when I lived in Berkeley, California supporting my ex-husband who struggled with depression and anxiety but didn’t really want to face his mental illness diagnoses. The support groups and the Family-to-Family group supported me through the darkest time in my life and inspired me to go back to graduate school and become a social worker. I searched for the local NAMI affiliate in Michigan before I accepted my UofM offer for graduate school. I was so grateful for my social work Professor Thomas Powell when he invited Kevin Fisher, the executive director for NAMI Michigan, to be a guest speaker in our class. He offered scholarships for me to attend the NAMI Michigan state conference two years in a row. I visited NAMI WC’s office with my baby. I was one of the organizers for NAMI On Campus to raise money for the NAMI Walk and walked with NAMI WC staff and volunteers in 2018. The pandemic forced everyone to adapt. One of the changes was that the state moved the NAMI F2F facilitator training to virtual. I jumped on the bandwagon to become a F2F facilitator in 2020 and have been facilitating F2F classes since then. NAMI WC became my extended family in Michigan. Last year and this year, I’m honored to be a presenter at the NAMI Michigan state conference, sharing my professional knowledge with the wider NAMI community. This year’s theme for the conference was “Family Matters”. What was echoed again and again during the conference is that NAMI is our chosen family even when we didn’t have support from our blood family. No matter what life has in store for me in the coming years, I will always be part of NAMI and spreading the word for more individuals and families to access resources NAMI offers and contributing to NAMI WC in whatever way I can. Because NAMI changed my life.
Why did you support NAMI WC at DXA2 this year?
NAMI and Running were the two things that carried me through the worst time in my life. What better way to pay tribute to both than combining them into one?! I’m very pleased to see NAMI WC become one of the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run’s official charity partners. I will be proudly running for NAMI WC from now on.
How do you think events like this can help raise awareness of mental health and reduce stigma?
Visibility and representation is huge! People can see I’m healthy, happy, accomplished…. today, but I want people to also hear my story of feeling depressed and passively suicidal and like my life completely fell apart at one point. I want people to know there is hope and I want them to check out the life-changing services and resources NAMI offers. I want them to know they are not alone and they can talk about their own mental health struggles or their loved one’s mental illnesses with others and feel they are not being judged — and not only that, but also that they are actually understood and supported. It takes these human stories and human contact to break down the stigma.
What has your experience as a NAMI WC community member been like?
The first time I called NAMI WC, I was greeted by Barb Higman with her soft, gentle voice so comforting that I knew I was going to be okay moving to Ann Arbor. From there on, I’ve met and became friends with so many wonderful people, most of them are volunteers with NAMI WC. It just carries such special meaning every time I attend a NAMI gathering. It’s like coming home. (My tears are rolling down my face right now). I’m getting emotional.
What are your hopes and dreams for the future of NAMI and for how approaches to mental health might change?
In the very first class of every F2F course, we compare mental illnesses to a physical health issue. My hope is that one day in the near future, getting evaluated, diagnosed and treated for mental illnesses is no different than a physical health challenge such as a broken bone or a heart condition.
Being a trauma therapist, I’m witnessing first handedly that many innovative therapy modalities and interventions are becoming more and more accessible for people and they are very effective in helping people to heal from various trauma that’s underneath many mental health symptoms. My hope is that more and more people get to experience these profound healing experiences and get to truly overcome their mental health challenges and thrive.
How did it feel to represent NAMI at the race?
It was wonderful to see the NAMI table at the race expo and to see NAMI volunteers on the race course! Once upon a time, going to a NAMI support group used to be something I was afraid of bringing up. But now, I feel really proud to be sharing my involvement with NAMI. I hope more people who go through their journey of feeling lost or overwhelmed eventually come out on the other side feeling proud of what they have done.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
I’m a talker. I can keep going on and on. Come running or walking with me. Check out namiwc.org today. Share with anyone you think might be struggling alone. Contribute to NAMI WC if you care about this cause. Thank you!
