The Pirate 5k Run/Walk

🏴‍☠️ Join Us for the 4th Annual Pirate 5k Run/Walk

Join us for our 4th Annual Pirate 5k Run/Walk (dress in pirate costume theme if you wish)

📅 Date

• Day: Saturday
• Date: August 15, 2026

⏰ Time

• Kickoff: 07:30 am 5k Kicks off
• Registration: on race day between 6:30-7:00 am

📍 Location

• Venue: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
• Address: 315 North Cedar Street
• City: Lincolnton, NC 28092

📦 Packet Pickup

• Friday: Aug 14th from 4-6 pm
• Saturday: Aug 15th from 6:30-7 am (At the Parrish house at St Luke’s)

🏆 Awards

• Categories: Overall Male and Female
• Age Groups: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each age group
• Finisher Medal: for all participants
• Age Groups: 14 and under, 15-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80+

⏳ Deadline for Guaranteed Shirt

Aug. 3rd

🏞️ About the Race

The Third annual Pirate 5K Run/Walk will begin on North Cedar Street in Lincolnton at Historic St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. The church graveyard is the final resting place of Lorenzo Ferrier who may or may not be Jean Lafitte.

From St. Luke’s, the runners will work their way to the Lincolnton Rail Trail at First Federal Park at East Pine Street crossing.

ℹ️ Church Information

• Website: St. Luke's Episcopal Church
• Non-Profit Status: Lincolnton, is a North Carolina non-profit 501 (c)(3) and donations may be tax deductible.

🚶‍♂️ About the Rail Trail

The Marcia H. Cloninger Rail-Trail, known locally as the Lincolnton Rail-Trail, is a 1.5-mile paved trail, and is especially popular with walkers, joggers, bikers, and parents pushing baby strollers. Benches line the route, inviting you to pause and take in this enchanting town and trail. The trail is maintained by the City of Lincolnton.

The trail offers a chance to search the heart of this small Southern town, highlighted by a stately courthouse, model Main Street, thriving arts scene, and nearby lakes and mountains. Once an eyesore covered in kudzu and debris, the former Norfolk Southern Railroad corridor is now the pride and joy of “Lovable Lincolnton”.

For more information on the Lincolnton Rail Trail visit Marcia H. Cloninger Rail-Trail.

🏴‍☠️ About the Pirate

In 2021, a book entitled Jean Lafitte Revealed, Unraveling One of America’s Longest-Running Mysteries by Ashley Oliphant and Beth Yarbrough presents the theory that Jean Laffite, did in fact successfully change his name and live out the rest of his natural life, dying 1875 at the age of 96, under the pseudonym, “Lorenzo Ferrer” in Lincoln County, North Carolina. Ferrer is buried in a marked grave at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church in Lincolnton, North Carolina. The grave is commonly referred to as locals as “The Pirate’s Grave.” Whether or not the story is true, it would make for a great movie.

Read more about the pirate.

📜 The Current

Laffite’s legend in Lincolnton involves a possible son by Louisa, an alleged murder at a plantation, an argument with another Frenchmen also living undercover and a sword with his initials hidden in plain sight.

Read more in The Current.

🔗 Race Link

Visit the Race Page for more details.