Ahead of Run Richmond weekend, city officials cite progress in telling the city's unvarnished past

Richmond will hold its fifth Run Richmond 16.19 event in September, with the goal of bringing more than 400 years of Black history to life through movement, storytelling and culture.

Actor Djimon Hounsou, whose foundation sponsors the event, said he's been hearing from people over the years how deeply the run affected them.

“It became almost a reality that I'm maybe hitting a note for our people. A note that could sustain this idea of having a place,” he said. “Because no matter where you go in America, you often hear, ‘I'm an Irish-American, I'm an Italian American.’ And you can feel that they are connected to history or to ancestral culture. And I think that's missing for us.”

Richmond Mayor Danny Avula said one of the reasons he chose to stay in the city after getting his medical degree was because of the city’s willingness to reckon with the hardest parts of its history. 

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“It is only in the telling of our whole story, not as we wish it to be, but as it was, that our future can be made better than our past.”

The RichmonderVictoria A. Ifatusin

“The way that our city grapples with the reality of our past, the past of being the capital of the Confederacy, the past of being the birthplace of our domestic slave trade in this country, that is a result of courage and leadership and intentionality,” Avula said. “Since we gathered for Run Richmond 16.19 last year, we've made some really meaningful progress in that work.”

Avula ticked off a list of initiatives the city has undertaken, including opening the Shockoe Institute at Main Street Station, The JXN Project’s opening of the Skipwith-Roper Cottage and the future plans surrounding the Lumpkin Slave Jail Pavilion. 

“Because we've got to know where we have come from if we know where we are going. If we are going to effectively tear down the systems and the structures that have resulted in persistent racial inequities now in 2026, we've got to know how they got here,” said Avula. “And it reminds us that we still have a heck of a lot of work to do. And that's a huge part of why I love Run Richmond 16.19, because it invites people into history in a way that is active, that is accessible, that is inclusive, and you can experience and know our city differently because of it.”

The “16.19” are the kilometers (10.1 miles) that runners and walkers will weave through Richmond’s most historic sections of the city over the weekend.

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The RichmonderVictoria A. Ifatusin

These include Historic Jackson Ward, Tredegar Ironworks, Tobacco Row and Ancarrow's Landing, formerly Manchester Docks, which was the major port in the domestic slave trade from 1830 to 1860 and is now part of Richmond’s Slave Trail. The route also highlights where the Black community began to carve out its own narrative. 

Ahead of its fifth anniversary, organizers of the event said at a Friday press conference that the event continues to grow in importance as well as in its mission to propel the youth to seek out, share and experience the stories of Black Americans and of the African continent.

“The real importance here is to instrumentally use this idea of running or walking, as a vehicle to bring people together,” said two-time Academy Award nominated actor Hounsou. “This is a cultural movement. You have people of all ages, including kids, that we're hoping will attend the event and have an experience.”

The press event was held Friday at the same time that three Confederate monuments and memorials on Capitol Square were being taken down by the Department of General Services.

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Like much of the rest of Shockoe Bottom, the location of the jail lies in a floodplain, with part of its footprint encroaching into a floodway.

The RichmonderSarah Vogelsong

Addie Richburg, executive director of the 400 Years of African American History Federal Commission, which is also one of the sponsors of the event, said Run Richmond 16.19 gives everyone a chance to stand in places where Black ancestors stood and feel the spirit that “permeates through these streets.”

“I think that all of us at some point in time can only imagine what it must have been like 400 years ago,” she said. “And now for us to sit here in this room and recall to the extent [of] what that history unfolds. Everyone here is a product of that history. And we are all one.”

The ultimate goal of the event, said Hounsou, is to bring an awareness of Black people’s vast troubled and complex African history to the youth. 

“To open their eyes about the multiple opportunities that the continent may have to offer, since for centuries the continent had this defamed sort of a story in which everybody has some sort of preconceived idea of what Africa is and represents,” he said. “And very few people speak of its beauty. We just want to change that narrative. And this sports event is an instrument to change that narrative.”

Entering its fifth year, Run Richmond 16.19 invites participants to reflect on the city’s slave-trading past

The route will include information on relevant historical sites, as well as educational events scattered throughout the weekend.

The RichmonderEleanor Shaw

The anniversary also comes on the heels of the USA’s 250th anniversary, organizers pointed out, and a time of political and social fractures in the country.

“It's on us to understand that my history exists because of your history. And what you have done to each other,” he said. Hounsou, who immigrated to the United States more than 30 years ago, was born in Benin, which was a major port in the slave trade. “But I cannot begin speaking about healing unless you understand your own contribution. Every time you refute the idea that you have something to do with this, my traumatic condition, you're repeating that history.”

With Run Richmond 16.19, Hounsou said he envisions people from all over the world making a pilgrimage to Richmond for an historic experience. And race organizers want to recreate the experience in other parts of the world, such as Liverpool England and in West Africa, which were all part of the slave trade. 

“I'm hoping that Richmond, given the fact that Richmond is the capital of the Confederacy, is the cradle of history, American history.  It's only right that we start that concept here,” said Hounsou. “That concept is to undo the transatlantic slave trade and to transform that into a triangle of hope. We're heading to Liverpool, which is the second leg and the biggest port in Europe for the transatlantic slave trade. And then the third leg will be heading back home, back to the continent to the gate of no return. This whole foundation is geared for the youth of tomorrow.”

Run Richmond 16.19 runs from September 11-13. Registration is required.