Another lap for Ben’s Memorial Mile

After Ben Silver, a former track and cross country star at Downers Grove North High School, died by suicide at age 22, his family wanted to use the tragedy to raise awareness about mental illness.

A year after his death they did just that with the launch of the Ben’s Memorial Mile fundraiser in 2016.

Going into its eighth year, the annual community festival and running gala has raised more than $130,000 to help aid mental health research.

Ben’s mother, Jamie Silver, who organizes the event each year with Aaron Silver, Ben’s brother, and Paul Silver, Ben’s father, along with help and support of family members and friends, said months of planning go into each celebration.

“And then when it’s done, we’re on this kind of high for weeks because of all the love and the warmth and the happy faces and the camaraderie,” she said. “And it’s in honor of Ben, who was a warm and happy guy.”

This year’s event is set for 5 to 9 p.m. July 22 at Downers Grove North High School, 4436 Main St. Festivities will include track races and walking events for people of all ages and abilities, as well as a cornhole tournament, raffles, children’s activities, concessions, dancing, mental health and fitness booths.

“We’ve already got 150 people registered to run this year,” Jamie Silver said.

Tickets for Saturday’s event are $30 a person. Proceeds go to the Ben Silver Memorial Fund, which supports schizophrenia brain research, and the DuPage National Alliance on Mental Illness in his memory. Information is at https://bensmemorialmile.com/.

Spectators are invited to attend at no charge.

“They can come out and watch their loved ones race or just hang out with us for a good cause,” Jamie Silver said.

Running became Ben’s passion in 2005 when he joined the cross country and track teams as a seventh grader at Herrick Middle School. At Downers Grove North, he was part of the cross country and track teams, eventually landing the role of captain. He was sidelined by ankle injuries, but still found other ways to train for his races, swimming and routinely spending hours on the elliptical to maintain his fitness.

After high school, Ben received a full-ride college scholarship to compete and study at Miami University of Ohio. When his ankle injuries persisted, he turned his focus to academics and began taking even more advanced coursework as a college sophomore. Soon, however, the pressure became too much and Ben was faltering for the first time in his education. He ended the semester one credit hour short of the requirements to maintain his scholarship.

Ben began to withdraw from his family and friends. He was unable to think clearly and was consumed by paranoid thoughts and delusions, which led him to use marijuana as a coping mechanism. Eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia, Ben started taking medication. While it helped, he still spent the next year and a half in and out of mental health facilities. He attempted suicide several times before ultimately ending his life in July 2015.

“He had to escape from the pain – that’s really the crux of it,” Jamie Silver said of her son. “I often say that he gained his angel wings on his own accord and ended his earthly suffering at the same time. He’s our inspiration for all this good work we’ve done.”

Aaron Silver said his brother’s death helped open the dialogue about mental health.

“In the aftermath of a terrible tragedy for us, we started to talk a little more about it and then we had people telling us how they know someone who has schizophrenia,” he said. “We also realized that you hardly ever hear about big fundraisers for schizophrenia research. We actually had to really dig to figure out what organizations were supporting it.”

The Silver family is grateful for the group of about 30 volunteers who help them put on Ben’s Memorial Mile each year.

“The connection between all of us, both within our family working together for this and with the committee members who put so much energy into the mile and have become family to us is just so important,” Aaron Silver said.

There is also, he said, “just something special about the event itself.”

“It’s not only empowering people to talk about how mental illness has impacted them, but it’s also brought us closer as a community,” Aaron Silver said. “So many people come out to it and offer their help, whether it’s local businesses or old friends or people who have mental illness themselves. They all just want to throw their hat in and support the cause.”

“And we are sincerely grateful for every person that comes,” Jamie Silver said. “Whether they knew Ben or know us, it doesn’t matter. We’re always welcoming new people.”