Around the Bend Five & Ten

The Around the Bend Five & Ten race series is based in the historic Five Points area of Lower Manhattan, now part of Chinatown. The name references Mulberry Bend, a curve where Mulberry Street turned north near present-day Columbus Park. The original street layout followed the land's contours: Orange and Mulberry streets angled northwest, then veered to bypass Collect Pond and its surrounding marshy ground. This old neighborhood was situated between Bayard Street, Cross Street, Orange Street, and Mulberry Street. The most compelling aspect of the course is its historical terrain. Mulberry Bend was formerly a notorious section of Five Points, with back alleys like Bandit’s Roost, Bottle Alley, and Ragpickers Row crammed behind the tenements. Social reformers, including Jacob Riis, advocated for its redevelopment, leading to the replacement of the area's most dilapidated blocks with Mulberry Bend Park, a design by Calvert Vaux that was later renamed Columbus Park. Some older tenements remain on the east side of Mulberry Street, such as 48-50 Mulberry Street, which Riis documented in How the Other Half Lives. Cross Street was eventually renamed Mosco Street, and remnants of the original street plan were integrated into Columbus Park, allowing runners to traverse a landscape where the current map still shows echoes of a razed community.