This year’s May Day 5K, which benefits the Tyler Project, a youth mental health nonprofit, happens on Sunday at 9 a.m. at Main Beach in East Hampton.
Including some of the prettiest streets south of the highway, the mostly flat route is “very family-friendly while providing the perfect opportunity for a P.R. for seasoned runners and newbies alike,” the organizers said. In its first two years, the race drew hundreds of participants.
The run was founded in 2021 by two East Hampton High School runners, Ryleigh O’Donnell and Dylan Cashin, to coincide with the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Month. Its beneficiary, the Tyler Project, was established in memory of Tyler Valcich, a Montauk teenager who died by suicide in 2014. The organization aims to raise awareness about mental health issues and cyberbullying and to help young people in times of crisis.
The 5K is organized by Mayor Jerry Larsen, the village administrator, Marcos Baladron, Jennifer Fowkes of the Old Montauk Athletic Club, and Bradford Billet of the East Hampton Village Foundation. It is open to runners and walkers of all ages, but dogs will not be allowed on the course, nor will scooters or bicycles.
Advance registration, which costs $30, can be done online at bit.ly/44qkSWX, and for those who do so, bib pickup will be on Saturday from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Main Beach Pavilion. Same-day registration ($35) and bib pickup begins at 7 a.m.
