83-year-old Marine veteran to launch 2,200-mile relay from Dunwoody church

An 83-year-old Marine Corps veteran will take the first steps of a 2,200-mile relay run from Dunwoody to Las Vegas on Aug. 30, kicking off a 22-day effort to raise money for veteran suicide prevention and a planned veterans village in DeKalb County.

Stan Cottrell, a Guinness World Records holder who has logged more than 300,000 miles over five decades of distance running, will run the opening 2.2-mile leg from First Baptist Church, 4400 N. Peachtree Road. He'll also close the relay in Las Vegas.

"It's not the run that's the story. It's the veterans that are the story," Cottrell said at a Wednesday, Aug. 12, news conference at the church.

The event is called the VET 22 Suicide Prevention Run, reported by the Dunwoody Crier. The number 22 refers to a grim statistic: an estimated 22 veterans die by suicide every day, a toll Cottrell said has held since 1980 and that organizers link to combat trauma, PTSD and homelessness.

Tony Barrs, founder and president of Tucker-based Frontline Community Services Inc. and its VET 22 Program, organized the relay. The structure calls for 1,000 runners, each covering a 2.2-mile leg in their hometowns along the route. Barrs said his fundraising target is $22 million to house more than 1,000 homeless veterans, and he's asking the public to donate $22 each.

Proceeds would support a planned 42-acre veterans village in DeKalb County designed to offer housing, substance use treatment and job placement services. No site, timeline or county approval details have been announced.

Retired Army Lt. Col. Searless Hathaway-Williams, commander of American Legion District 4, spoke at the news conference about why the effort matters to her personally, saying she was there because her comrades are suffering and that veterans who take their own lives are still haunted by what they saw in combat.

Also attending was Gold Star mother Casandra McAllister, whose only child, Army Spc. Cedric L. Grayer Jr., died by suicide in September 2017 at age 23. Registered nurse Beloved Promise, a 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the high jump, will serve on the relay's medical team.

Rev. Anthony George, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, opened the Wednesday, Aug. 12, event with prayer.

Residents who want to participate can donate $22 or sign up to run a 2.2-mile hometown leg at Vet22.vet. The relay launches Sunday, Aug. 30, from First Baptist Church in Dunwoody.

Upcoming community events: