Inaugural Mattapan Unity 5K Fete
ERA of WTR- Staying healthy, black, alive and ready
Today was the Inaugural Mattapan 5k. It was advertise you can walk, run, or dance it. Mattapan is another predominately black community in Boston that gets ignore in so many ways around access to resources such as housing, food, education. It’s another neighborhood of color that is invisible when it comes to health and health access. I think this was the first 5k that the city put on.
https://runsignup.com/Race/MA/Mattapan/MattapanUnity5KFete
Mattapan Unity 5K Fête
Jul 17
1 min read
The inaugural Mattapan Unity 5K Fete is a dynamic, community-driven 5k designed to bring together residents, local businesses, and city officials in a celebration of health, wellness, and unity. In partnership with Cummins Highway Neighborhood Association, Greater Mattapan Neighborhood Council and Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition we collectively seek to increase access to healthy activities in Mattapan. Our goal is to promote fitness, foster community spirit, and highlight the vibrant culture of Mattapan.
*A portion of the event proceeds will be awarded to the Mattapan Community Health Champion Organization.
Event Details:
Date: August 9, 2025
Time: 8:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.
*7:00 AM (Registration)
*8:00 AM - 9:30 AM (Run/Walk)
*9:30 AM - 10:00 AM (Awards: Runners & Organizations)
*10:00 AM -1:00 PM (Community Health and Social Fair: Food, DJ's, Health and Fitness Vendors, Activities)
Location: 350 River St, Ryan Playground, Mattapan, MA
*T-shirts will be available on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.
Special Discount for Young Adults!
Are you between the ages of 12 and 17?
You may qualify for a reduced $20 admission to the Mattapan Unity 5K Fete on August 9, 2025!
We want to make sure our young people feel welcome and included in this celebration of community, wellness, and culture.
📩 To inquire about the Young Adult Discount, please email us at Mattapan5K@gmail.com.
Let’s make this a movement for all generations—one step at a time!
I’m making a sidenote to myself to talk with the organizers of this race because it was truly a community event. They had race organizers, title sponsor- City of Boston Economic, Opportunity, ,and Inclusion, Premier Sponsor- Martin J. Walsh, Mattapan Health Champion Sponsor, Neponset Trail Sponsor,Community Spirit Sponsor, Wellness Advocate Sponsor, Run and Wellness Crew Sponsor, and Elected Official Donor.
Seriously, it takes a village. For someone like myself, I don’t visit the Neponset Trail, it isn’t close to me. Mattapan is close to Dorchester around Ashmont and Fields Corner. The race was lovely. They had breakfast. I love breakfast. That was a plus.
Since this was a community 5k, many of the participants are folks from the running crews that I associate with- Trailblazhers, Pioneers, LivefitAry, Last Lap, and Heartbreakers. This was all local.
First the first 5k, they sold out with 390 registered runners and walkers. Black Men Run volunteered on the course. They had water stations, cheer squads, and police detail. To invest in a true community race is no small effort.
Besides that, My Iowan came with me to the 5k. I was there at 7:05a.m. , race started at 8. At the last minute, we got a table. That is a whole other story of frustration and doing things last minute and half assed. We were there. It was good to see BGR members and just all the folks that I know. Besides the running groups, there were the black fraternities and sororities that were representing too .
I’m just happy that people were moving their bodies, the attack on black health and black bodies, and just people of color, women, and poor folks are underway. The racial and gender disparties will just grow. A professor at UNC had her 2.4 million grant funding cancelled for black materal health. Unfortunately the list goes on. It’s up to us to provide healthy spaces and access to them.
Overall I had run with this race. I finished in 36 minutes. I took pictures, hugged folks, walked a bit, danced a bit on the course. The course was a two 1.5 mile loop. The first loop my time was around 19 minutes, the second loop around 17,
