Annual Harlem 5k Race Honoring Civil Rights Leader Goes Virtual

HARLEM, NY — Each year during Harlem Week thousands of runners take to the streets to compete in a 5k race honoring the life of civil rights icon and Harlem political leader Percy Sutton.

This year — on the 100th anniversary of Sutton's birth — the event will be forced to go virtual de to the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Road Runners announced. Runners who want to participate in this year's 5k — which also honors longtime Harlem Congressmember Charles Rangel — can register for the race starting Thursday.

Racers can run the 5k at any place of their choosing — the New York Road Runners suggest a place that is conducive to social distancing — at any time during Harlem Week. The annual celebration of Harlem will take place virtually from Aug. 16 to 23 this year.

Entrance fees for this year's 5k have been eliminated, but the New York Road Runners will be accepting donations for the Support Harlem Now initiative. The community relief fund was launched by the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce in partnership with neighborhood institutions and community groups to support Harlem residents and businesses through the pandemic.

Percy Sutton rose to prominence as a lawyer for civil rights activists such as Malcolm X and Stokely Carmicheal during the 1950s and 60s. He later became an influential political figure in Harlem, establishing a political bond known as the "Gang of Four" with former Mayor David Dinkins, Congressmember Charles Rangel and Basil Patterson. Sutton served as Manhattan Borough President through much of the 1970s, eventually running for mayor in 1977 but losing to Ed Koch.