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Running the rails: Brooklyn man finishes quest to jog along every NYC subway line
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Nov 26, 2025
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Ramsey Khalifeh
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Nov 26, 2025
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New York City’s subway system spans hundreds of miles, and Thai Richards has run all of them.
The 35-year-old model from Brooklyn can’t stop.
He’s a seasoned ultra-marathon runner who treats anything under 26.2 miles like a walk in the park. Two years ago, he decided to challenge himself by running alongside every single subway line in the city from end-to-end. He said he wanted to explore his lifelong home and to document the journey with his followers online.
“I've never heard of anybody running any of the train lines. So I was like, you know what? Let's get this f---ing going,” Richards said. “I looked at the map… and I was like, man, this is gonna be one hell of a feat.”
He began his quest in the fall of 2023 with a run along the A train — the city’s longest subway line — that took him nearly 34 miles from 207th Street in Inwood to the Rockaways. His next journey followed the F train for about 27 miles from Jamaica, Queens through Manhattan and down to Coney Island.
Every month or so, Richards would tick off another line. Tuesday night, he completed the final leg of his journey, running 23 miles next to the 4 train in the pouring rain from Woodlawn in the Bronx all the way to Crown Heights in Brooklyn, where he lives and grew up.
Thai Richards has carefully mapped out his subway runs over the last two years.
Ramsey Khalifeh
Richards completed Tuesday’s run in a Yankees jersey, running shorts, three gold chains and a pair of New Balance sneakers. He repeatedly stopped to drink beer along the way, and every 3 miles he’d whip out his phone to film updates for his social media followers, loudly exclaiming the distance he’d traveled.
“When you come from such a city with such a great magnitude, how could you not hold some type of pride?” he said.
He’s now mapped the entire subway system on foot, running along all 25 of the city’s subway lines, as well as the Staten Island Railway.
“Running is easy, life is hard,” Richards repeatedly declared.
Unable to run through the subway's East River tunnels, Richards had to opt for the Brooklyn Bridge get across the water.
Ramsey Khalifeh
He said his runs have helped him get in touch with the city’s history. He enjoys spitting train facts — like how the 4, 5 and 6 trains were New York’s first subway lines, or that the Staten Island Railway was once owned by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
Richards said the last two years helped him learn how the city has changed over the years.
“Growing up in Brooklyn, you know, I've seen just how much my neighborhood changed dramatically,” Richards said. “ I love history, and history helps us understand so much of where we are now, and unfortunately, neighborhoods ebb and flow, change is inevitable.”
Richards stopped at several city landmarks during his run along the 4 train, including Yankee Stadium.
Ramsey Khalifeh
As he completed the final stretch of Tuesday’s run down Eastern Parkway toward the 4 train’s terminal at Utica Avenue, there was no crowd of supporters around to help him celebrate.
Richards did, however, pull out his phone to record a video for his thousands of social media followers.
“From the BX to BK. The 4 line, that’s it,” he said into his camera. “MTA, I ran you all.”
Tagged
bronx
brooklyn
new york city
transportation
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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