{"id":231831,"date":"2025-06-13T13:34:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T17:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=231831"},"modified":"2025-06-13T13:35:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T17:35:18","slug":"uconn-medical-students-riding-coast-2-coast-to-prevent-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/06\/uconn-medical-students-riding-coast-2-coast-to-prevent-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Medical Students Riding Coast-2-Coast to Prevent Suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Marks, 25, of Gilford, and Zach Giguere, 23, of Windsor flew to Seattle to start their great bicycle adventure on June 10.<\/p>\n

Their summer cross-country bike trek marks the 20th<\/sup> year that UConn medical and dental students have made the huge bike journey across America. Every summer since 2006, a different group of students set out for the bike tour, and in doing so, raised money for and awareness of a cause.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s bike riding duo of future doctors are raising awareness of suicide with the goal to help prevent it. They are raising money too for advancing mental health research via the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"UConn
UConn rising second-year medical students Zach Giguere and James Marks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every year, more than 700,000 people die by suicide worldwide, and millions more struggle in silence. Despite the devastating impact on families and communities, mental health research and resources often lack the funding and attention they desperately need, the UConn medical students share.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that investing in suicide prevention\u2014through research, crisis support, and accessible mental health care\u2014can save lives. We are committed to raising awareness, advocating for change, and ensuring that no one feels alone in their struggle,\u201d they write.<\/p>\n

Their cause to prevent suicide is deeply personal to Marks.<\/p>\n

\"James
James Marks of UConn School of Medicine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI lost my Dad,\u201d Marks shared from suicide back in 2022. \u201cI am glad I can do this journey to raise awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giguere\u00a0 finds it critically important to raise greater awareness of the importance of mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecently after COVID, I have seen more people struggling with anxiety and depression. Research into these topics and supporting people who are really struggling is so important,\u201d Giguere says.<\/p>\n

He adds, \u201cOur ultimate goal is to raise awareness of suicide and get people to talk about it, so we can prevent it. Help us spread awareness, follow us on social media, and donate<\/a> to advance mental health research.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two classmates coast to coast trip is planned for a total of 48 days.<\/p>\n

\"Zach
Zach Giguere of UConn’s medical school.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cA few days in we are still on track, but we know the first few weeks will be the toughest,\u201d says Giguere, who even celebrates his June 17th birthday on the road. He remembers first hearing about the exciting annual Coast-2-Coast bike ride of UConn students when he first applied to medical school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never been out West before,\u201d says Giguere. \u201cI always wanted to see all of the U.S. This is the absolute best opportunity to do so!\u201d<\/p>\n

Marks totally agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s beautiful out here! We did our biggest bike climbs yet in the Cascades here in Washington state even climbing up Washington Pass with its 5,500 ft. elevation. It\u2019s really hard but everything of America we have seen so far, has incredible views,\u201d says Marks.<\/p>\n

Only a few days into the trek, both riders are witnessing the spirit of the American people over and over.<\/p>\n

\"One
One of the many beautiful views in Washington experienced by Coast-2-Coast riders from UConn School of Medicine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cEveryone and every town we encounter are really kind and are excited to hear what we are doing. We were blessed when a stranger\u2019s truck stopped to give us Gatorade. Americans are extremely nice out here,\u201d says Marks.<\/p>\n

Both UConn medical students, and their legs, are definitely looking forward to the more flat Midwest.<\/p>\n

Good luck James and Zach. Go Huskies!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Follow their Coast-2-Coast journey on Instagram @_coast2coast25_<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Donate to their suicide prevention cause.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two rising second-year UConn School of Medicine medical students are on a once-in-a-lifetime coast to coast bicycle ride, in honor of a lifesaving cause \u2013 suicide prevention. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":231836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1715,2231,2388,1868,2234,2233],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1873],"class_list":["post-231831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-impact","category-health-well-being","category-healthcare-workforce","category-meds","category-university-life","category-university-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-09 20:38:55","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231831"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233314,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231831\/revisions\/233314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/231836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231831"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=231831"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=231831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}