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The Runners Prepare
The Gonzmart Family Foundation and the Columbia Restaurant Group are involved in a series of charitable events throughout the year. Check out these upcoming events. We’d love for you to join us.
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It's Kids' Stuff
Children are at the heart of Richard’s Run for Life, and our events are for the whole family. Special activities are planned for the very young and the young at heart. Your kids will enjoy meeting the people who make up their community. -
Working Up An Appetite
Racing under the Richard’s Run for Life flag always means the best of sustenance for body and soul. Local restaurants donate refreshments and delicacies so that 100% of money raised can go to the cause.
TAMPA, Fla. (Sept. 14, 2026) — Richard’s Run For Life will return to Centennial Park in historic Ybor City on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, bringing the Tampa Bay community together for an evening of running, walking, dining and supporting young people facing cancer.
The 23rd annual event will include a timed 5K through the streets of Ybor City, an accessible One Block Walk and a post-race party featuring food and beverages from the 1905 Family Of Restaurants.
Participants will enjoy Columbia Restaurant’s Original “1905” Salad®, Paella and Black Beans; house-made beer and Baby Back Ribs “Chief Mocoço” from Ulele; and Pasta Bolognese and vegetarian pasta from Casa Santo Stefano.
This year’s event will benefit the Richard & Melanie Gonzmart Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Program at Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute. The program provides comprehensive, specialized cancer care and support services for adolescents and young adults ages 15–39.
Richard Gonzmart, fourth-generation caretaker of the 1905 Family Of Restaurants, founded Richard’s Run For Life in 2003 to unite his passion for running with his commitment to advancing cancer care and research.
Earlier this year, Richard and Melanie Gonzmart made a $1 million gift to support the TGH program that now bears their names. The return of Richard’s Run For Life offers the broader Tampa Bay community an opportunity to join that commitment and help expand specialized care and resources for young patients and their families.
Runners and non-runners alike are invited to participate. Guests may register for the 5K and party, join the One Block Walk and party, or purchase admission to the celebration in Centennial Park.
What: 23rd Annual Richard’s Run For Life
When: Friday, Nov. 6, 2026
Where: Centennial Park, 1800 E. 8th Ave., Tampa
Race-day pickup opens: 6 p.m.
5K begins: 7 p.m.
One Block Walk begins: 7:10 p.m.
Awards: 8 p.m.
Registration is $50 for the 5K and party, $40 for the One Block Walk and party, and $35 for admission to Richard’s Run Party in the Park.
Register by Sunday, Oct. 11, to guarantee an event T-shirt in your selected size. Registration will remain open after Oct. 11, with shirts and sizes available while supplies last.
Sponsorship opportunities are available for businesses and organizations interested in supporting the event and the Richard & Melanie Gonzmart AYA Cancer Program. To request sponsorship information, email RichardsRun@crg1905.com.
Founded by Richard Gonzmart in 2003, Richard’s Run For Life brings the Tampa Bay community together in the fight against cancer. After a two-year pause, the signature evening event returns to Centennial Park in 2026 to benefit the Richard & Melanie Gonzmart Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Program at Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute.
Media and Sponsorship Contact
Grace Gonzalez
Marketing & Public Relations Manager
1905 Family Of Restaurants
RichardsRun@crg1905.com
Each year the Tampa Bay community gets together to run in support of Moffitt's life-saving cancer research.
W hen you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.
- Patanjali
This quote was a great motivator for me and still is. Using my experience as a runner and my desire to find a cure for cancer I created “Richard’s Run for Life” under the Gonzmart Family Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds to find a cure for cancer. Creating Richard’s Run was a way to fulfill this goal of finding a cure.
- Richard Gonzmart
Father’s Day Event Raises $100,000-Plus, Bringing 10-Year Moffitt Total to $1 Million
Our annual Father’s Day event at Ulele raised a minimum of $100,000 for Moffitt Cancer Center, bringing the 10-year total to more than $1 million. (Next year’s event is June 16. Hope you’ll join us.)
More than 500 people registered for the family-friendly walk or jog on the Tampa Riverwalk leaving from and returning to Ulele.
Although the forecast looked dismal all night, the skies brightened with the sunrise and the night’s thunder, lightning and heavy rain seemed played out.
Event founder Richard Gonzmart thanked the sponsors, volunteers, community partners, participants and the many 1905 Family of Restaurants team members at the event. “We’re here because we’re raising money and awareness for Moffitt Cancer Center, which opened in 1986 and fast became one of the leading cancer facilities in the country,” Richard said.
He pointed out that 1 in 6 men will get prostate cancer, 1 in 3 Blacks and Hispanics. But, he said, the good news is that early detection is key because screening equals life. Richard said Moffitt Cancer Center is in Tampa because of the vision of one man – Lee Moffitt.
While a member of the Florida House of Representatives, Lee helped secure the initial $70 million for construction. At the time Lee was able to get the funding passed, The Tampa Tribune praised his “steel persistence and cotton diplomacy.”
The facility was named for Moffitt over his objections.
As Lee Moffitt often says, “One person can make a difference.”
That’s why we put that quotation on the run shirts.
Lee was at another Moffitt function in North Carolina, but his daughter Jenny represented the family to thank the Gonzmarts for staging the event in 2023and for the last 10 years.
And Moffitt CEO Dr. Patrick Hwu also spoke and later said “You saved lives today.”
Now that’s a good day.
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