Last weekend, on Saturday, August 28th, runners lined up on 94th Street next to Northern Playground for the Jackson Heights Mile sponsored by Awake NY. We all had such an amazing time organizing, volunteering, and running through the very heart of Jackson Heights. With the help of the NYPD and local Community Boards, we closed down traffic to 34th Avenue, the longest Open Streets path in NYC, for this one-mile race.
We worked with the 89th Street Tenants Unidos association to fundraise for the families displaced due to the 89th Street fire in their building, on top of dealing with the difficulty of the COVID-19 pandemic. All proceeds of the Jackson Heights Mile went to the fund and we successfully raised awareness of this issue to everyone who came from other neighborhoods to race the event. Thank you all for your contributions and please continue to support.
Volunteers
Photo courtesy of Horse and Duck Studio
This event could not have happened without the effort and care of all the volunteers – thank you!
Volunteers went above and beyond to help petition in Jackson Heights every week leading into the race. They helped raise awareness of the race and its purpose. This led to more and more members of the community coming to us at our QDR tent on 34th Avenue asking for more information on how to sign up for the race and, more importantly, what they could do to further help the families of the 89th Street fire.
The day before the race and on race day, volunteers helped distribute bibs and the “Queens is the Future” t-shirts (which are available to purchase!) to all the runners. As you know, 34th Avenue gets a lot of traffic with MTA buses cutting through certain streets. While the NYPD did open those streets for the busses, during each wave those streets were closed. Thanks to the volunteers working with the NYPD, all runners sped through 34th Avenue smoothly.
The Mile
Women 29 & Under Heat 
Men 30-39 Heat
On race day morning, we held seven waves:
- Women and Men 40+
- Women 30-39
- Men 30-39
- Women 29 & Under
- Men 39 & Under
- Competitive Heat
- Community Champions Heat
Find the results for all waves on Elitefeats.
This fast mile through Jackson Heights couldn’t have been possible with all the runners and clubs that came out: 718RUN, Brooklyn Track Club, Dashing Whippets, Forest Park Runners, LIC Runners, Lone Wolf Track Club, New York Harriers, North Brooklyn Runners, Running for Ayotzinapa 43, Streets 101, Team Wepa NYC, We Run Hollis, Woodside Sunnyside Runners, World’s Fair Run Crew.
Community Champions Heat
We ended the mile races with the Community Champions Heat. Thanks to all the community leaders who came out and race this wave to celebrate what it means to be a part of this wonderful community that looks out for one another. After this wave, we heard speeches from State Senator Jessica Ramos, Shekar Krishan, Bryan Lozano of Homecoming, New Immigrants Community Empowerment (NICE) organizer Karla Hernandez, 34th Avenue Coalition Leaders Nuala O’Doherty and Jim Burke, Andrew Sokolov of the 89th Street Tenants Unidos association, and Josh Frankel the designer of the original mural and t-shirts.
Thank you all once again and we hope to make this an annual event with your help! And remember, Queens is the future!
Queens Distance Runners