WEST PALM BEACH FL – (January 30, 2023) More than 400 participants of all ages visited the City of Riviera Beach Saturday, January 21^st, 2023, to participate in the 2nd Annual MLK 5K and Divine Nine 5K Challenge. The event offered kids’ races, a 1-mile fun walk/run, chip-timed 5K and 10K races as well as a warm-up session for participants that was conducted by Certified Trainer Rosa White, Owner of Total Body Fitness with Rosa LLC. Participants enjoyed walking or running on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. between President Barack Obama Highway and Congress Avenue and received a finishers medal after crossing the finish line.

“We would like to say a big THANK YOU to all who participated in this year’s MLK 5K! Many of our chamber members served on our planning committee and volunteered at packet pickup and passed out water and medals to our participants. Still, others participated by donating, being an exhibitor, and encouraging runners and walkers. We are grateful beyond words for all your support!” said Joseph Sanches, Black Chamber President & Chairman of the MLK 5K Committee.

The overall winners for the 10K were 1^st Place Male – Joshua Thomas from Lake Worth who reprised his 2022 win, shortening last year’s time by 3.57 seconds at 39:57, and 1st Female – Chalayna McGee from Miramar 49.36. For the 5K 1st Place Male Sergey Fedulov, 21:24, and 1st Female – Cheryl Fletcher, West Palm Beach 21:30.

The biggest youth group prize once again went to Grove Park Elementary School, and the Divine Nine Winners were Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

The participants’ ages ranged from 5 to 75 years old, and we had a total of 35 volunteers.

Event sponsors for the 2nd Annual MLK 5K include Quantum Foundation, City of Riviera Beach, Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, Community Partners of South Florida, Velocity Community Credit Union, Whiting-Turner Construction, United Way of Palm Beach County, Genesis Community Health, Media Partner X102.3, and several in-kind partnerships.

A portion of the proceeds from this event was used to offset the costs for participants looking to improve their health but are not able to cover the full costs of registration. Net proceeds also help provide educational programs as well as other resources to small minority-owned businesses in Palm Beach County through the efforts of the volunteers of two nonprofit organizations, the Black Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County, and the Equity Entrepreneur Center.