Parrish Street · Black Wall Street · Durham, NC

Four blocks of history.
One start line.

A heritage bike, run, and walk weekend on the downtown Durham street where Black Americans built an entire economic world of their own. Fall 2027.

Registration opens soon. Founding rates go to this list first, before any public announcement.

BikeRunWalkFree festivalLive musicFarm-to-table gala
Hundreds of cyclists gathered in downtown Durham

This is who shows up. Downtown Durham, 2026.

What you're standing on

These aren't memories. They're still there.

Most people walk past Parrish Street without knowing what they're standing on. The institutions that made it famous are still on the block, and one of them is still open for business.

Illustration of the Parrish Street block with a start and finish banner overhead
1898 North Carolina Mutual Life John Merrick, a man born enslaved, founds the company with Dr. Aaron Moore and C.C. Spaulding. It moves to Parrish Street in 1906 and grows into the largest Black-owned insurance company in America.
1907 Mechanics and Farmers Bank R. B. Fitzgerald and W. G. Pearson open the bank a few doors down. It has never closed. Not through the Depression, not through anything since. You can walk into it today.
1912 W.E.B. Du Bois comes to look He walks the block and writes that he has seen nothing like it anywhere else in the country. The name that stuck afterward was Black Wall Street.
2027 The street becomes a start line Every route begins and ends right here, on the same four blocks. Not a race that happens to be in Durham. A celebration of this street that happens to include a race.

The weekend

Move. Remember. Celebrate. Connect.

Come as an athlete, a food lover, a history seeker, or a business owner. Nobody has to justify being here.

A cyclist crossing the finish line with both arms raised

The athletic core

Move

Bike, run, or walk. Multiple distances, from a first 5K to a century ride, everyone off the same start line on the same street.

North Carolina historical marker for Black Wall Street on Parrish Street

The through line

Remember

Heritage programming and storytelling all weekend, on the ground where it actually happened. The history isn't a theme we chose. It's the location.

A Durham police officer and an attendee dancing at a downtown festival

Open to everyone

Celebrate

A free public festival. Live music, local food, a curated vendor market, and a farm-to-table gala for anyone who wants the full evening. No registration required to come.

Riders in convention kit together in downtown Durham

The long game

Connect

Real room for Black entrepreneurs, sponsors, and community organizations to find each other and build something that lasts past the weekend.

Before you give us your number

Here's exactly what you're signing up for.

1
We never sell or share your information. Not to sponsors, not to partners, not to anyone. It stays with us.
2
One email a week. That's the ceiling. Usually less. We write when there's something worth reading.
3
One text a week, and only if you ask for it. Texting is opt-in. Reply STOP any time and it stops immediately.
4
We'll break that for two things only. A price increase you'd want warning about, or a limited founding offer that could sell out before the next send.

Founding rates go to this list first.

The lowest prices we will ever offer go out to this list before any public announcement, and there will be a limited number of them.

Reach back, ride forward

The Parrish Street Legacy Bike, Run, Walk is produced by Major Taylor Community Outreach, the nonprofit behind the Major Taylor Cycling Club of North Carolina.

Supported by Durham Next Accelerate: A Durham Festival Collective.

Sponsorship and vendor inquiries: [email protected]

Join the list

Be first to know.

Dates, distances, and founding rates go out here first, before any public announcement.

What brings you here?

Pick the closest one. You'll hear about everything either way.

We never sell or share your information. One email a week at most. Texting is optional and you can reply STOP any time.

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