Hundreds of runners gathered across the five boroughs Saturday to participate in the first ever NYC Black History 50.

It is a 50-mile run that takes participants to historical sites across New York City.

Runners took their marks at Sandy Ground in southern Staten Island and finished the 50-mile run at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

Along the runners' path was the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights, which sits above a crucial section of the Underground Railroad. Other stops along the run included the Lewis Latimer House Museum in Queens and the Hunts Point burial ground in the Bronx.

"Even lifelong New Yorkers in this city truly don't understand how rich and important the Black history is of this city," said NYC Black History is a 50 Director Todd Aydelotte. "We want to teach people that this history is here, that its vital, and that it's important to recognize it and to rally around it and to protect it."

Rather than paying a fee to participate, runners donated money to the historic Free Black Community at Sandy Ground.