A couple of Capital Region runners are determined to run 159 miles in the month of June to mark the 159th year of Juneteenth celebrations. The co-founders of Cap City Runners are calling on you join them this month.

It was on June 19, 1865, when Union troops delivered news of their freedom to more than 250,000 enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas.

That announcement happened 2 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. 

Those newly freed slaves celebrated that day and named it Juneteenth. From then on, celebrations continued, slowly expanding to other states.

Juneteenth was named a federal holiday three years ago, signed into law by President Joe Biden.

Learn more about how this run is so meaningful for people who participate by watching the video of Faith King’s story.