It’s a muddy, wet, and coal-colored trail lined with a galore of insects, squirrels and dog feces.

Not exactly what you would call your typical early morning walk or run in the park.

Despite these conditions, more than 30 N.C. Central University students showed up Saturday morning at Lake Lynn Park in Raleigh to take part in the Alliance for Lupus Research’s nationwide fundraiser, “Walk with Us to Cure Lupus.”

The 37 walking teams from the Raleigh/Durham area consisted of families, high school and college students, local businesses and organizations. Everyone came out to support the fight against lupus.

NCCU’s Health Careers Club was among the walking teams.

This nationwide 5k walk raises money to aid healthcare professionals in lupus research and spreads awareness of the disease.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is an autoimmune disease. That means the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s various tissues.

This leads to life-threatening damage to major body organs like the heart, lungs, brain, kidneys, blood vessels, skin and joints.

The cause and cure of lupus are unknown, but scientists hope that funding will aid them in their research efforts. Each team’s participation helped towards that cause.

The Health Careers Club’s original goal was to raise $250, but far exceeded its expectations by raising $1,550.11.

As of October 9, walk.lupusresearch.org reported a grand total of $64, 381.75, somewhat short of their $75,000 goal, for the Raleigh/Durham area.

Money collected from Saturday’s walk is still being counted.

The walk, which is broken down into Eastern, Central, Mountain and Western regions of the U.S., was held in 32 locations nationwide this year. Raleigh/Durham was one of these locations.

Although none of the NCCU students who attended the walk had a personal battle with the disease, many were willing to help towards the cause.

“This walk is a great way for the students here to become more knowledgeable of this disease…,” said biology junior Cierra Roach, president and team captain of NCCU’s Health Careers Club.

Roach, an administrative assistant at Duke University Medical Center’s rheumatology department, wrote a newsletter in September on lupus and the upcoming walk for Raleigh/Durham.

Afterwards, she decided to form a team of her own through the Health Careers Club.

Roach said that lupus is slowly affecting the black community, although it is a disease about which little is known. She said her main goal was to make her peers aware of the despairs of this disease and how it affects the black community as a whole.