RAD Half Marathon draws runners, funds River Arts District recovery

The sight of runners streaming from Pack Square into the River Arts District on June 14 carried more weight than a typical finish-line celebration. The RAD Half Marathon and 10K was not just a race through downtown Asheville and along the French Broad River, it was also a fundraiser for the RAD Artists Foundation, a signal that visitors, donors and neighbors may be starting to flow back into one of Buncombe County’s hardest-hit creative corridors after Helene.

Presented by Hunter Subaru and organized by iDaph Events, the fourth annual race used a USATF Certified course that iDaph described as safe, fast and chip timed. The half marathon also featured a net elevation loss, which gave competitive runners a quick course while still pulling in casual participants who wanted to be part of a local event with a recovery purpose attached.

iDaph’s event guide added a full slate of race-weekend activity around the main event. A shakeout run and studio stroll took place June 13, and packet pickup ran that afternoon from 1 to 5 p.m. at The Venue in Asheville. The guide also said shuttles carried runners and spectators back downtown from the finish area, with departures every 15 minutes beginning at 7:30 a.m., making the race feel like a citywide event rather than a single-neighborhood run.

That broader footprint mattered in the River Arts District, where the economic damage from Helene is still visible. The River Arts District Artists donor page says emergency grants were provided to more than 750 artists after the storm, and the group says its foundation supports scholarships, shared spaces and technical assistance for artists. A WLOS report said district artists were planning a new Creative Campus after losing roughly 80% of creator spaces in Helene, a reminder that the comeback is still fragile and unfinished.

The district’s recovery also depends on whether people keep showing up. RAD Rendezvous at 87 Roberts St. houses 40 working artists and two retail spaces, a sign that the neighborhood’s creative infrastructure is rebuilding piece by piece. For artists and small businesses, a race like this does more than fill streets for a morning. It puts customers on sidewalks, keeps the district visible and directs money toward the people trying to make a living there.

The event has also become part of Asheville’s running calendar. iDaph’s results page lists RAD Half Marathon and 10K results for 2024, 2025 and 2026, and a previous WLOS report said the 2025 race drew about 1,200 runners. That kind of turnout gives the fundraiser reach well beyond the finish line, especially in a district that has long marketed itself as a cultural draw and says it was named the best arts district in the country on RADFest-related material.

In that sense, Sunday’s race was a measure of recovery as much as endurance. Every runner, spectator and shuttle ride helped test whether the River Arts District is not only reopening, but regaining the economic life that artists and businesses need to stay there.