The Running Fence Run: A Run of Freedom Celebrating Christo's 1976 "Running Fence," 24.5-mile-long 18'-high fabric art installation.

The Running Fence Run: A Run of Freedom

Artist Christo fled the Soviet-bloc in 1957 to seek freedom in the West. Becoming internationally-renowned, he realized the American Dream, an undocumented immigrant obtaining U.S. citizenship, and completing his audacious Running Fence in America's Bicentennial. The Running Fence was a 24.5-mile-long fabric curtain temporarily installed for two weeks in September 1976. The Running Fence, like the original marathon run of 490 BCE, delivered a message of freedom. It's 24.5-mile-length evokes the 1896 Olympic marathon in Athens, lengthened to 26.2-miles for the London Olympics of 1908. The marathon event celebrates Pheidippides, the ancient herald who ran to the young democracy of Athens from Marathon with news of victory — their outnumbered citizen army defeated the Persian Empire’s best trained warriors. The victory at Marathon ensured the survival of democracy, which later inspired America’s own revolution for independence. Christo’s Running Fence carried a similar message: that freedom, like a long run, demands endurance, courage, and the willingness to go the distance.

The Concept of the Running Fence

Unlike the socialist-realism Christo studied in communist Bulgaria, agit-prop art promoting happy workers and the superiority of the authoritarian state, the Running Fence was not required to have meaning. Christo and Jeanne-Claude self-funded all of their projects, answering to no one. Once winning permission to install the Running Fence across the California hills, the work stood entirely on its own terms: a 24.5-mile ribbon of fabric answering only to the wind.

The Celebration Details

The Running Fence Run celebrates freedom on September 12th, the historic date of the run from the Battle of Marathon, and the 50th anniversary of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s legendary landscape installation across the hills of Sonoma and Marin counties.

• 50th Anniversary: The anniversary of Christo & Jeanne-Claude’s "Running Fence" exhibited in 1976 from September 10th - 21st.
• 2,516th Anniversary: The anniversary of the Battle of Marathon - September 12, 490 BC.

Event Opportunities

Choose your distance, 5K, 10K, 1/2 Marathon, or modern 26.2 Mile Marathon, and challenge yourself while supporting great causes.

Additional Resources

Visit the Museum of Sonoma County's Christo exhibition.

Event Information

Date: September 12, 2026

Location: 6775 Moro Street, Bloomfield, CA

Registration: Register here.