The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our September 2026 issue.
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Run Richmond 16.19 founder Djimon Hounsou appears at center in sunglasses.
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Richmonders love running events almost as much as they love history. Run Richmond 16.19 honors both, and this year marks the race’s fifth anniversary. Created by two-time Academy Award nominee Djimon Hounsou (for “In America” and “Blood Diamond”), the event is more about tracing the steps through 400 years of Black history than it is about setting personal bests.
As Run Richmond embarks from Abner Clay Park on Sept. 12, runners and walkers can choose between a 16.19K (10.1 miles) or 8.1K (5 miles) course. Along the route, participants will pass sites such as Ancarrow’s Landing, the notorious Lumpkin’s Jail in Shockoe Bottom, Historic Jackson Ward, Tredegar Ironworks and Tobacco Row, plus street art that celebrates “unity and reconciliation.” Registration starts at $65.
The Djimon Hounsou Foundation organizes the event, collaborating with the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia, Sports Backers, and dozens of other local groups. Hounsou, who will once again participate in the race, was out of the country when Richmond magazine reached out but responded to questions via email.
Richmond magazine: Now that it’s five years in, what does Run Richmond 16.19 mean to you?
Djimon Hounsou: Five years ago, Run Richmond 16.19 was simply an idea, a dream of creating a cultural run or walk through more than 400 years of history in Richmond. Today, every September, we close the streets and bring thousands of people together to run, walk, learn and remember. It has become an annual moment of truth-telling and community connection. We honor our ancestors, celebrate Black history and culture, and create space to reflect on our shared past. Seeing it grow means a great deal to me. It shows that people want meaningful opportunities to come together — not only in remembrance, but also in unity and hope.
RM: How has this experience grown since its inaugural year?
Hounsou: The event has more than tripled in size since our first year. This year, we hope to welcome around 3,000 participants, and we already have people registered from 36 states. We also work with more than 40 community partners, and each one helps us tell a fuller and richer story.
The experience itself has grown tremendously. We now have an educational mobile app, history signs and videos along the courses, an Amanda Gorman sound installation, a Black history pop-up exhibit, and a finish festival at Abner Clay Park, directly across from our educational partner, the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia.
What I’m especially excited about is that it has become a three-day experience. We begin with a free opening-night program, continue with the race and finish festival, and conclude on Sunday with a screening of “Declarations: [Black Americans and the Revolutionary War” and a conversation about what America’s 250th anniversary means to the Black community.
Each year, we uncover another layer of the story and find new ways to bring people into it. That continues to move and energize me.
RM: What impact do you feel this event has?
Hounsou: There is a clear economic impact. The Foundation and our visitors spend more than $500,000 in Richmond over the event weekend and many participants stay for several days. But the emotional and community impact is much harder to measure. We hear from mothers who bring their daughters because they want them to see Black history and culture represented with pride. We hear from Black participants who come to honor their ancestors, process grief or celebrate their community. We also hear from white participants who say the experience helped them engage with our shared history in a more personal way and build meaningful connections.
The event is also attracting people from all over the U.S. We have welcomed participants from as far away as Hawaii. CNN International even came from Nairobi to feature the event on “African Voices Changemakers.” That showed us that the story we are telling in Richmond resonates far beyond Virginia — and even beyond the United States.
RM: Given the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, why is presenting Richmond’s role in the slave trade so important?
Hounsou: In many ways, Virginia’s and Richmond’s history mirrors the history of America — from the Indigenous roots of the Powhatan people and the domestic slave trade to the Civil War, Reconstruction and the removal of Confederate statues from Monument Avenue.
Richmond is almost like a living Black history museum. You can walk through the city and see, touch and feel the places where this history happened. It is estimated that 1 in 4 Black Americans can trace their ancestry through the domestic slave trade in Richmond. We cannot tell an honest story about 250 years of the United States without including that history. As an official VA250 partner, the Djimon Hounsou Foundation is committed to place-based truth-telling and to centering the voices of descendants whose experiences have too often been left out of the national story. Richmond has an opportunity to show the rest of the country that understanding our past more fully does not have to divide us. It can help bring us together and move us toward reconciliation.
RM: With the current state of polarization in the U.S. and across parts of the world, what messages do you want to impart to people about the importance of 1619?
Hounsou: The year 1619 marks the beginning of the African American experience in English North America. It is not the beginning of America — the history of this land begins much earlier with Native peoples, including the Powhatan — but it is a defining starting point for understanding the Black experience in this country. That year, the first recorded Africans arrived at Point Comfort in present-day Hampton, not far from where we hold this race. That is why the event is called Run Richmond 16.19. If we want to understand the Black experience in America, we cannot begin only with the chapters that feel comfortable. More than 400 years of history have left wounds and intergenerational trauma that did not simply disappear when slavery ended. Healing begins when we acknowledge the whole story, and this cannot be the responsibility of the Black community alone. We need people from every background to show up, listen, learn and be willing to sit with the difficult parts of our history. For me, 1619 is not a date that we should try to move past. It is a place from which we can begin, together. Reconciliation requires us first to build the understanding and relationships that may never have existed. That is the work of conciliation, and all of us have a part to play in it.
RM: What does it mean to be able to partner with the Black Girls RUN! Sweat With Your Sole National Conference, hosted Sept. 10-13 in Richmond?
Hounsou: Black Girls RUN! is an incredible national movement that encourages Black women to embrace healthy and active lifestyles while building strong, supportive communities. What many people may not realize is that the organization is led by the extremely talented Jay Ell Alexander, right here in Richmond. We worked closely together to coordinate our dates so that Run Richmond 16.19 could serve as the official race of the Sweat With Your Sole National Conference. As a result, we expect more than 500 Black Girls RUN! members from across the country to join us. To me, it is a perfect partnership. Both organizations believe in health, community, culture and bringing people together around a larger purpose. When like-minded people join forces, the impact becomes so much greater. I’m very grateful for the collaboration.
RM: Any tips for first-time runners of this event — like, they shouldn’t worry about setting PRs and reaching the finish first, right?
Hounsou: First of all, this is not really a race against one another. It is a community experience. You can run it, walk it or do a little of both. I often take my time because I want to absorb the history and everything happening along the course.
There are some hills, so be prepared for those. But as you climb them, think about our ancestors and everything they overcame to pave the way for us. You will make it to the finish line, just don’t cross it alone. Cross it with your friends, your family and your community.
RM: Do you have any upcoming projects you’d like to mention?
Hounsou: I’m excited to be joining the upcoming "Highlander" reboot, directed by Chad Stahelski. I will play an immortal African warrior alongside Henry Cavill, Dave Bautista and Russell Crowe. It is a wonderful opportunity to bring a powerful African character to a major international production, and I’m very much looking forward to sharing more as the project develops.
