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‘Shirley Chisholm’ 5K races toward good health
By Xavier Board
In 2021, the Shirley Chisholm 5K Trail run started as a simple way to foster community. Five years later, the event has increased its count and diversity of runners, while also upholding its tandem goals of improving public health and spotlighting the first Black female congresswoman and first Black person to vie for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“Creating this was more or less taking our autonomy back,” said Keron Alleyne, co-captain of Black Men Run NYC. “It’s the FUBU concept: ‘For Us and By Us.’”
The race starts in Shirley Chisholm State Park, a 407-acre expanse built on top of what had been marshland, later housing two city landfills in Brooklyn. The park opened in 2019. For years prior to that, waste had been illegally dumped on the site. Residents of Starrett City, Canarsie and other nearby neighborhoods had dealt with the dumps’ nauseating odors, toxic emissions and randomly sparking fires.
Alleyne, who helped design the trail, wanted the race to further transform the park, turning a place once tied to health risks into a launchpad for eliminating them. All four of Alleyne’s grandparents had diabetes. His father had type 1 and his mother type 2. His oldest sister once slipped into a diabetic coma.
“I feel like I’m trying to outrun it,“And the way to outrun it is to simply keep running, “ Alleyne said, about the disease.
Giscard Titus is trying to do the same. Titus’ father died of a heart attack two years ago. Running is how he plans to be well and present for his children and future grandchildren. “I come from the Caribbean, a lot of people are unhealthy,” said Titus, a former Florida State University cross-country athlete.
This year, Dubar Smalls Jr. was one of more than 400 runners in the Chisholm 5K, which attracted 100 runners in its first year.
“I believe it’s a great way to stay out of bad neighborhoods and keep the community together,” said Smalls Jr., 21, who came first in the 2026 run, crossing the finish line after 19 minutes and 47 seconds. Neither his middle nor high school had a track team, though he’d long yearned to run competitively. Being a part of Black Men Run, and running the Chisholm 5K, helps to fill a void. He’s competed in all five races.
What inspires some to participate in the race is Chisholm herself. Starting in 1968, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives seven consecutive times. In 1972, she sought the Democratic presidential nomination.
“It means a lot that she was from Brooklyn. She was Caribbean, she fought for human rights, she fought for all rights,” said James Jean Pierre, co-captain of Black Men Run North New Jersey. “ To do all the things that she was able to do without the opportunities, without the handouts, with a lot of obstacles, we have to come and support it.”
Alleyne said the 5K’s organizers don’t want the event to be swallowed up by donors with an overly large presence at the race. T-shirts were sold for $25 each with Brooklyn Sports Club, the race’s newest sponsor, purchasing mandarin oranges and water for the event. “We want it to remain true to how we see it… as an anchor in this community that has been neglected and rejected ”, Alleyne said.