The movement that happens at the Northside Trap Run is about more than exercise. It’s about showing up for each other, holding on to community and pushing forward even when resources don’t.
That spirit returns Saturday when St. Louis’ first hip-hop-themed 5K walk/run and festival — one of the region’s most meaningful health events — once again takes over selected streets of North St. Louis.
Hosted by Young Friends of the Ville, a board committee of Northside Community Housing, Inc., the Trap Run was created to empower North St. Louis neighborhoods and unify grassroots, civic, educational, commercial and residential efforts to bridge the city’s north-south divide. At its core, it’s about health — physical, mental and communal — and the belief that movement can change how people see themselves and their community.
“We’re bringing people together to move their bodies,” said event co-director and co-founder Kameel Stanley. “Movement is nourishment. We need it to live, to be healthy. And on a larger level, we need it to build healthy neighborhoods.”
With a dozen DJs, yoga instruction, cheer stations, vendors, food, raffles and a festival stretching along Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, the event is intentionally low barrier. Walkers, runners, skaters, dancers, families, elders, kids and even dogs — thanks to sponsor Purina — all have a place.
“If you can’t run, you can walk. If you want to skate, dance, stroll — it’s all welcome,” Stanley said. “If you love music, you’re qualified to come to Trap Run.”
The 5K starts and ends at North Sarah and Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, with the festival stretching along MLK between Sarah and Whittier.
The route itself is a statement. It winds through neighborhoods often stereotyped as “unwalkable,” places where vacancy and disinvestment are visible — but so is beauty, history and the people who refuse to give up on either. Runners pass through the Ville and Greater Ville, neighborhoods with deep cultural legacy and ongoing community-led revitalization.
“You see both the beauty and the struggle with your own eyes,” Stanley said. “People live there. People love there. People are doing cool things. It has champions.”
For Shavette Wayne, the Trap Run didn’t just introduce her to racing — it changed her relationship with her own health.
Wayne first learned about the event in 2019. She wasn’t a runner and thought a 5K meant five miles. But she loved North St. Louis, and the idea of DJs, community and movement pulled her in.
“I went out there that day — my first 5K — and from the start to the finish, the exercise and the camaraderie were inspiring,” Wayne said. “The diversity of the people, young and old, Black and white, teams, families — it was motivating.”
She finished that first race feeling accomplished. She hasn’t missed a Trap Run since.
Wayne started as a slow walker. Now she walks and jogs in intervals and participates in other 5Ks throughout the year.
“It’s always me versus me,” she said. “Trap Run put my mind more on fitness and my health. It made me more active.”
But the neighborhood matters just as much.
“There are no other 5Ks that go through North St. Louis,” Wayne said. “Trap Run is the only one I’m aware of. And every time I run it, I feel like a proud North St. Louisian.”
That pride is shared by Carlos Vinson, a third-generation brick mason and longtime runner who has completed “tons and tons” of 5Ks across the region. At 59, he says staying fit is part of both his work and his life.
Vinson, 59, has coached youth basketball and volunteered in St. Louis Public Schools. “A coach can’t ask players to do anything he wouldn’t do,” he said. “Fitness is always key. The older you get, the more fit you want to be.”
Vinson also sees the event as a reflection of North St. Louis pride — especially after the May tornado that damaged homes across the area.
“I’m working on my fourth tornado house on the North Side,” Vinson said. “I’ve worked on houses on the same streets we run. It feels good to rebuild the community and then run through it. Trap Run is the icing on the cake.”
Last year, participants came from 11 states. For some, it’s a first step in a health journey. For others, it’s now a lifestyle — a yearly ritual that reminds them to keep moving.
Mental health is part of that mission too.
“Having something in the neighborhood focused on health, joy, music and culture — that’s important,” Stanley said. “Healthy people, healthy families, healthy communities, healthy city, healthy region.”
Wayne hopes newcomers feel what she felt in 2019.
“This is just the beginning,” she said. “I want them to walk away knowing they can do anything they set their mind to — and that the biggest obstacle is themselves. And I want them to see that North St. Louis has love, support and good people.”
The 9th Annual Northside Trap Run will take place at 9 a.m., with an 8:30 a.m. warmup. For more information, visit traprunstl.com.