Overview Steps Toward Healing is a 5K run/walk at Eisenhower Park organized to benefit COPE Foundation, which provides free grief resources, workshops, and support groups for parents, siblings, and families who have lost a child. The tagline — no one should have to walk, or grieve, alone — says it plainly. This is a race…
Overview The Run for the Rescue is a 5K trail race at Blydenburgh County Park in Smithtown, organized by the Never Stop Running Foundation as part of their Goodwill Series. The race benefits Last Chance Animal Rescue, a nonprofit that pulls animals from kill shelters and finds them homes. It’s the kind of cause that…
Overview The Mary Ruchalski Foundation 5K raises money for pediatric cancer research and supports families impacted by pediatric cancer. It’s a cause with deep personal roots — the foundation was started in memory of Mary Ruchalski, and the race has the kind of genuine community warmth that comes with that kind of history. It runs…
Overview The East Rockaway Education Foundation 5K is a community fundraiser for the East Rockaway Education Foundation, which supports local schools and educational programs. It runs at Hewlett Point Beach in East Rockaway — a waterfront park setting that’s a step up from your average road 5K backdrop. The race is straightforward and welcoming. First…
Overview The Easter Bunny 5K is one of the Long Island Road Runners Club’s annual holiday races, and it’s got the relaxed, community feel that all LIRRC events tend to have. It runs Easter Sunday morning at Eisenhower Park, which makes it a nice way to start the holiday before whatever family commitments come later…
Overview The Great Easter Basket is an NSRF race at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, and it’s one of those events that actually uses the park well. The course passes the Unisphere twice and circles the Fountain of the Planets, so you’re running through genuine New York City landmarks rather than just loops of…
Overview The Glue Loop is put on by the Glue Factory, a Brooklyn running crew, and it’s one of the more distinctive road races in the area. The course is simple: one counterclockwise lap of Prospect Park, 3.36 miles, starting and finishing at the southernmost point of the loop. The finish has a nice downhill…
Overview The Aspire 10K is one of the more established spring races on Long Island, organized by the Greater Long Island Running Club and benefiting the Sunrise Association, a nonprofit that runs free summer camps for children with cancer and their siblings. That’s the kind of cause that makes a race worth showing up for…
Overview The Bunny Trail 5K is one of those races that’s just genuinely fun. It’s a spring trail race at Bethpage State Park organized by the Never Stop Running Foundation, and it has a distinct personality compared to most of the road 5Ks on Long Island. You start on the open polo field, hit the…
Overview Building Homes for Heroes is a Long Island-based nonprofit that provides mortgage-free homes to injured veterans, first responders, and their families. It started right here, grew out of the aftermath of 9/11, and most people on Long Island still don’t know it’s in their backyard. This 5K is one of their main local fundraising…