Running through history in Harlem for MLK Day

Written by tourist_yp6g7u on January 20, 2025. Posted in Blog.

In honor of Martin Luther King Day (MLK), the New York Flyers running club took a historic jog through Harlem. They visited historic sites, statues, churches, monuments, and buildings on the tour.

“These individuals changed the world,” said Bradford Goz, a volunteer at the New York Flyers run club who organized the historic tour run. “Running provides a unique opportunity to go at an [engaging] pace to experience sites and architecture while covering a large territory.”

Runners passed a statue of Reverend and Congressman Powell was one the nation’s most consequential and controversial political leaders.
Credit: Ariama C. Long Photo

The New York Flyers run club was founded in 1989 and is one of the largest clubs in the city. Their “Harlem Heroines and Heroes Run” began near the Frederick Douglass Sculpture and Water Wall by Central Park North. A small group of runners gathered on a frigid Sunday morning, the day before MLK Day, to kick off the tour.

Mother Clara Hale Sculpture on 122th Street: She saved almost 1,000 other children as foster mother and caretaker. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor and recognized by Ronald Reagan in the State of the Union address.
Credit: Ariama C. Long

“I feel like a tourist,” laughed Shevon Mahon, a club member who lives in Brooklyn.

Runners covered about 6 miles, pausing to get background information on each site and learning about the circumstances that led to the development of Harlem as the nation’s “Black Mecca” for several decades. They heard about Black American icons, such as abolitionist Harriet Tubman, real estate mogul Philip A. Payton, baseball player Willie Mays, prolific band leader Cab Calloway, tennis great Althea Gibson, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, restaurateur Sylvia Woods, civil rights leader Malcolm X, former Congressmember Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and of course, MLK himself.

James Baldwin Walk of Fame plaque on West 135th Street. Credit: Ariama C. Long

Even run clubs in the city are rooted in Black history, said Goz. Ted “The Father of Long Distance Running” Corbitt, a Black runner who made history in the 1952 Olympics, served as the founding President for the New York Road Runners Club (NYRR). He also trained at the 369th (Colored) Infantry or the Harlem Hellfighters–the most famous all-Black regiment to fight during World War I with the French. Under his leadership, Corbitt opened up the run club to all races, genders, and running speeds.

The Malcolm Shabazz Mosque on West 116th Street was another famous stop on the route. Credit: Ariama C. Long

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