The Unified 5k is more than a race, it’s a movement. It is built on the idea that every person deserves the opportunity to compete. Whether you’re running, walking, or rolling, whether you go 5000m or 500m, whether you finish in 17 minutes or an hour and 17 minutes, we want to celebrate your accomplishment.
In 2025 we are expanding to host inclusive road races across the U.S. with plans to continue to reach more locations here and abroad. Each stop along the way grows our community, educates, and creates opportunities for every person to compete – not against the person next to you, but against the previous-version of yourself.
Whether you run, walk, volunteer, or sponsor an event, your participation contributes to real, systemic change and helps us make fitness and physical activity more accessible and inclusive.
When I hosted the first Unified 5k in 2018, I didn’t set out to build a nationwide series of inclusive road races. But I have experienced firsthand the positive change it can have locally and believe that it’s time to think bigger.
When you join the Unified 5K series team, the regional events you support help fund AdaptX, a larger global initiative to address systemic barriers to better health and fitness through our four pillars. These include:
- Education: The AdaptX eLearning platform was co-designed alongside the disabled community and will provide education for thousands of health and fitness professionals to help them create more inclusive environments and more effective adaptive fitness programs.
- Research: The Rick Hoyt Research Lab was established to perform impactful studies that improve fitness and reduce secondary health conditions for individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities. We accomplish this by pursuing two lines of clinical and translational science: 1) The optimization of exercise delivery in people with ID/PD, and 2) The implementation of accessible and inclusive fitness environments.
- Advocacy: The Unified 5k Social Impact initiative includes donating a running blade to an amputee, a Hoyt chair or handcycle to someone with a physical disability, outfitting a fitness facility in each race community with adaptive equipment, and educating consumers and companies about the value of inclusion and accessibility.
- Opportunity: The AdaptX scholarship and ambassador fund will provide economic assistance to individuals with disabilities to improve their health with qualified exercise professionals or pursue an athletic goal.
…and more. Sign up. Show up. Be part of the change.
Visit unified5k.org to find a race near you and unified5k.org/support to learn about all of the ways that you can support the cause.
