Veterans Day 5K Fun Run or Walk at Hampton Park

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Hampton Park, 30 Mary Murray Drive, Charleston SC

Saturday, November 8th, 2025

🏃‍♂️ Race Overview

We will be conducting a fun run or walk to honor Veterans, on Veterans Day Weekend, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025.

Participants can run or walk in beautiful Hampton Park, Charleston, SC, or they can participate virtually at the time and place of their choosing.

🎽 Registration Details

All registrants will receive BOTH a long sleeve SHIRT and a MEDAL, commemorating the event. Participants at the event in Hampton Park will pick up their shirts and medals at the event. Virtual participants will receive their shirts and medals by mail (to a US, APO or FPO address). TO BE GUARANTEED A SHIRT AND A MEDAL, YOU MUST REGISTER NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 8, 2025.

📍 Event Location

WHEN:
- November 8, 2025 at 9AM
WHERE:
- Hampton Park, 30 Mary Murray Drive, Charleston, South Carolina 29403

🌟 Participation Options

For the event in Hampton Park, we will mark off a distance of 5k (going around the park 3 times) but participants can run or walk a shorter or longer distance, if they choose. There will be no awards or timed results, but we plan to have a time clock at the finish line so participants can note their finish times.

Virtual participants can run or walk a 5k distance (or shorter, or longer) at a time and place of their choosing, and will not need to submit any information about when they walked or ran the 5k, or how long it took them. They can, of course, post their results on whatever social media they would like. It may take a month, or more, for the virtual participants to receive their shirts, depending on the number of people who register for the virtual option. The virtual option allows you to show your support of our veterans, and get a shirt and medal commemorating your participation, without traveling to Charleston's Hampton Park that morning.

🎖️ Supporting Our Veterans

Participants can donate to help our veteran community. Donors who give $10 or more will be able to make their donation “in honor of”, or “in memory of”, the name of a veteran. For each named veteran, a 4"x6" flag, with the veteran’s name, will be prepared. Participants in the event at Hampton Park can pick up their flags at the event and any flags that are not picked up will be donated for use on veteran graves. For virtual participants, their flags will be included in the package with the t-shirt, which will be mailed to them. To make a donation to support our veterans, please click on the DONATE icon at the top of this page.

💔 Why We Run

Many Low Country veterans are in need of food and other basic essentials. There are about 2,500 veterans living below the poverty line in Charleston, and one out of every five Low Country residents getting food at local food banks is a veteran. Further, over 11% of veterans, from ages 18 to 64, report food insecurity: that's more than twice the rate for non-veterans. Recently, these problems have worsened for our veterans, as government programs have been cut and inflation has risen.

Many local veterans also need support for their mental well-being. Multiple deployments and other stresses of military service have left many veterans with invisible wounds: injuries to their mental health. The rate of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among soldiers is nearly 15 times higher than the rate for civilians. For veterans currently leaving military service, it is estimated that: 30% have, or will have, PTSD symptoms: 20% suffered a traumatic brain injury: and 10% have an addiction to substances. These invisible wounds, often combined with the financial difficulties described above, have led to an alarming rate of homelessness and suicide within our veteran community. The homeless rate for veterans is twice that of non-veterans, and the suicide rate is 1.5 times greater than that of non-veterans. About 22 veterans commit suicide a day, and nearly three quarters are not under VA care. Since 9/11, the number of veterans our country has lost to suicide is more than 4 times greater than the number of combat deaths.

This Veterans Day 5k event will help Low Country veterans who need -- and deserve -- our support. Proceeds from this event will go to organizations that provide direct support to Low Country veterans: the Lowcountry Veterans organization: a local veteran scholarship: and the Food Pantry at the Charleston VA Medical Center. Lowcountry Veterans provides transitional housing to homeless veterans in the Charleston area, housing up to 300 veterans each year in a drug and alcohol-free environment. It also provides food and transportation, and facilitates educational and employment opportunities, to help veterans find stable employment and housing. The scholarship fund will support educational opportunities for Lowcountry veteran families. The VA Food Pantry provides and distributes food to local veterans, and advises on nutrition and health.

Just as important as the financial support, this Veterans Day 5k provides moral support: it sends a message to all of our local veterans that Charleston cares for, values and honors them. With this event, we can help to heal the invisible wounds to our veterans' morale by showing them that they matter to us and by increasing awareness of these wounds. At the event, participants can learn more about these invisible wounds, how to assess the risk of suicide, and how to get help for veterans at risk of hunger, homelessness or suicide.