The MLK Dream Run, a two-day community race weekend in North Portland, hits its 15th year Saturday and Saturday, Sept. 19–20, at PCC Cascade Campus in the Humboldt neighborhood.
The Soul District Business Association organizes the event. The SDBA has supported businesses in inner North and Northeast Portland since 1977, and proceeds from the Dream Run fund the association's youth entrepreneurship and workforce development programs, small-business training, digital navigation services, leadership development and community economic empowerment, according to the Portland Observer.
Saturday's Movement Market kicks off the weekend with a free kids race, a Nike Shake-Out Run, live music, local vendors, health and wellness activities, pickleball, raffles and an '80s-inspired group fitness session.
Sunday is race day.
Professionally timed 5K, 10K and 15K courses wind through North and Northeast Portland, starting and finishing at PCC Cascade. Top male and female finishers in each distance win Alaska Airlines round-trip tickets. Additional chances to win are open to all finishers and volunteers.
Nike and Alaska Airlines lead the event's sponsor lineup.
The race route runs through the Soul District, the stretch of inner North and Northeast Portland from just above NE Broadway to Lombard between I-5 and NE 33rd Avenue, according to EverOut Portland. The SDBA has called this corridor home for nearly 50 years, and the Dream Run doubles as a tour of the neighborhood it serves.
Runners who cross the finish line can expect grilled Dave's Killer Bread and Tillamook cheese sandwiches waiting for them.
Portland City Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney, whose District 2 includes PCC Cascade and the Soul District, encouraged residents to take part in her Aug. 28 newsletter. She called the Dream Run an annual fundraiser for the SDBA and a great event for the district.
Registration is open at MLKDreamRun.com. Pricing was not listed in event materials.
Upcoming community events
- Saturday, Sept. 19 – Sunday, Sept. 20: MLK Dream Run Weekend, PCC Cascade Campus, Humboldt. Movement Market Saturday; 5K/10K/15K races Sunday. MLKDreamRun.com
