"40 Miles & A Mule" 5K Charity Walk/Run

• $20 - Early Bird Special
• $25 - 01/01/22
• $35 - 01/15/22 - RACE DAY

The 3.1-mile course along the Atlanta Beltline Westside Trail, which provides a scenic, festive route through westside neighborhoods to Washington Park, with a return route back to Gordon C. White Park. Registration includes a T-shirt. It is open to all.

Starting and finishing at Gordon C. White in the Historic West End Neighborhood of Southwest Atlanta, the “40 miles & A Mule” 5K Charity walk/run is a fun and fitness way to honor the legacy and continue the work of Civil Rights Leaders in Atlanta such as Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathy Sr., John Lewis, Hosea Williams, and many more.  The walk/run is one of the many events leading up to the Civil Rights Bus Tour on April 16, 2022, in Birmingham, AL to honor Dr. M.L. King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.

All proceeds from the event will go to benefit this and other charitable events to assist our community members experiencing homelessness.

Relevance of the name “40 Miles & a Mule” – On the weekend of the MLK birthday federal holiday, his actual birthday being January 15th, we begin a celebration of our Civil Rights movement. There were leaders of our community in Atlanta who came today to fight for liberation. Now, on January 16th, 1865, Union General William T. Sherman came down and issued a Special Field Order in Savannah, GA to prescribe 40 acres and a mule to the freed slaves. This was an idea that resulted from a discussion that General Sherman and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton had with 20 leaders of the black community in Savannah.  The 40 miles has a significant and symbolic meaning to the York Rite masonic body, Order of Knights Templar. So, for this day of MLK’s birthday, leaders of the community will go the distance of 40 miles to distribute alms to our community members and assist them in the protection against food insecurities and hunger. Who are the leaders of the community? YOU!

The race day activities include Zumba warm-up, inspiration, booths presented by sponsors and various organizations, voter registration, pack meals to be delivered to the homeless, and of course FUN!!

The “40 Miles & A Mule” 5K is a great charitable event to serve our community and a great way to start off your year!

Please, let us know which option you will choose Run or Walk.

• 11 – 11:30 – Registration
• 11:45 am – Community Zumba Warm-up & Stretch
• 12 noon – Runners will start
• 12:05 – Walkers will start

Upon completion, participants and volunteers can help us pack sandwich meals to distribute them, along with toiletries, to our community members experiencing homelessness. We will pack the sandwich meals together in the gym of KIPP Strive Academy. If you are able, please bring any amount of toiletries (Toothbrush/toothpaste kits, feminine products, socks, deodorant, wipes, masks, hand sanitizer)

LET’S HELP EACH OTHER AND HAVE SOME FUN!!

* For those who want a challenge, feel free to join us for the Knights Templar annual “40-mile challenge.”  Some of us will walk 40 miles. Start on Friday, 11:59 pm at the Kroger on Cascade and I-285. Walk 20 miles to Stone Mountain and back. *This option is not the 5K and is open to all.