Doing Hard Things My Way 5K (Virtual Event) 2026

Description

Join us for the 2nd Annual Doing Hard Things My Way 5K, a virtual event created to raise awareness and support for individuals living with Cerebral Palsy (CP). Sign up from anywhere and log a 5K, your way during race week!

What began as an idea to turn one runner’s journey into something bigger has grown into a movement centered on courage, resilience, and community.

This event is inspired by Chad Williams, a runner and adaptive athlete with Cerebral Palsy who founded the brand Doing Hard Things My Way to show that physical challenges don’t define what’s possible.

Chad shares: "I started running races to prove what I was capable of, but along the way, I saw that my journey served as hope and inspiration for others who were working through their own hard things. I became a voice for them and for the CP community, and I wanted to carry that further—to an event like this 5K—taking something like running that has been so powerful for me and using it as a moment to raise awareness for the Cerebral Palsy community.

Doing Hard Things My Way isn’t just a catchphrase. It’s about showing up for yourself, falling and getting back up, moving at your own pace, and rewriting limits—your way."

This year’s theme is Move with Courage.

Whether you run, walk, roll, jog, or move at your own pace, every participant is part of something bigger—coming together to support the Cerebral Palsy community and celebrate the strength it takes to keep moving forward.

Cerebral Palsy is the most common motor disability in childhood, yet it’s often misunderstood or underrepresented in public spaces. This virtual event aims to:

1. Raise awareness about CP 2. Encourage adaptive athletes 3. Fund future projects that promote community, inclusion, and accessibility

What Your Participation Supports Cerebral Palsy Strong is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides social support for people with CP who are in need of belonging and connection. We aim to serve our community by fueling storytelling and organizing in-person events that address our collective needs, even as those needs evolve with age and life stages. We’ve built a fast-growing online platform where connections are formed and hundreds of real-life stories are shared, but we know people are hungry for that to translate offline.

We're working together to create a stronger presence in people's lives but we can’t do it alone. We hope you'll join this virtual 5k with your friends and family because our community really needs your support!

Our Mission To build a cerebral palsy community where we make connections and find a sense of belonging while navigating life with a disability.

We do that by:

- Featuring real-life stories of people with CP — to promote better representation of disabled people in the media and to curate a shared experience. - Organizing community-led events that celebrate coming together and creating space for discussing challenges and opportunities that are important to the disability community. - Fostering awareness, education, and understanding about disability, CP Awareness Month, World CP Day and more.

For more information on Cerebral Palsy Strong, visit their website .