Downtown Orlando filled with runners, walkers and whole families on Saturday as the city marked the 10th annual CommUNITY Rainbow Run, a 4.9K that honors the 49 people killed at Pulse and raises money for a permanent memorial at the club’s former site. The family-friendly morning brought a wash of color back to City Hall Plaza and sent participants past the Pulse site as Orlando heads into a week of remembrance ahead of the tenth anniversary.
The 4.9K started and finished at Orlando City Hall, sending participants south down Orange Avenue toward the Pulse site, with temporary road closures in place across downtown to accommodate the route, according to the City of Orlando. The event, founded by a group of UCF graduate students in 2017, directs registration proceeds to the Orlando United Pulse Memorial fund, the city’s public effort to build a permanent tribute at the club’s location, per Visit Orlando.
Remembrance events and programming
The City of Orlando and memorial organizers have lined up a slate of remembrance activities. A Pulse Remembrance Ceremony on June 12 at First United Methodist Church will feature musical performances from local artists and the Orlando Gay Chorus, plus a special presentation by Orlando’s poet laureate, Camara Gaither, according to Pulse Orlando. The ceremony page also notes participation by Angel Action Wings, a volunteer group that has spent more than a decade spreading messages of love and acceptance around the city.
Voices from the street
“I've actually been coming every year since the start,” one participant said, echoing many runners who described the event as both personal and communal, per Spectrum News 13. Orlando Commissioner Patty Sheehan was among those who ran and told the outlet she was running in memory of people she knows who were affected by the 2016 attack.
Crosswalk dispute still hangs over the site
The weekend's gatherings unfolded amid lingering friction over a painted rainbow crosswalk near the Pulse site. Commissioner Sheehan told reporters the city decided not to appeal a ruling involving the crosswalk, according to WESH. That dispute has kept the memorial conversation in public view even as organizers press ahead with fundraising and planning.
How the run helps finish the memorial
Organizers and city officials say net proceeds from the Rainbow Run go to the Orlando United Pulse Memorial fund and are intended to pay for the permanent tribute. The memorial's concept design is complete and construction is slated to begin this year, with an opening planned for 2027, according to Pulse Orlando. A related exhibit, created in community: Portraits of Pulse, will be on display at City Hall’s Terrace Gallery through Aug. 23, offering a quieter space to reflect on the 49 lives lost.
For many in Orlando, the CommUNITY Rainbow Run has become a ritual of memory and action: moving together through downtown, remembering the dead and raising money to make the city's long-promised memorial a reality. City and event pages carry the latest schedules and ways the public can take part in this week’s remembrance.
