Growing up in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook and being 1 of 11 in a blended family, Richard “RichRel” Reliford has always been a man on a mission. He received a D1 football scholarship and played for the University of Akron while obtaining his mechanical polymer engineering degree. After college, he moved out to LA to become an actor where he’s starred in multiple plays, commercials and television shows, including a recurring role on General Hospital, and landed a starring role in the feature film, Frat Brothers. He has served as a mentor, coach and ministry leader before joining Team World Vision as their Events Managers in Los Angeles and recently took the Senior Partnerships Manager position for World Vision USA. In 2018, RichRel founded Mission1Race, a nonprofit organization with the vision to “Abolish inequality; Celebrate individuality; One humanity and world undertaking a transformational journey to embrace differences.” He is the father of 3 amazing children with 2 now in college and one about to graduate high school next year. RichRel’s faith is extremely important to him, and he continues to live his life with the purpose and want to improve and serve others. 

What inspired you to start running/live an active lifestyle? 

When I was a child, my grandmother told my parents that I was a bad, mischievous kid with a lot of energy. I got kicked out of flag football because I was tackling and that was just the start. My active lifestyle continued through college after receiving a Division 1 football scholarship at the University of Akron. Fast forward to 2016, where I was sitting in church, listening to a story about how kids were dying because they didn’t have access to clean water and I could help by running. Knowing that I could do an activity, like endurance running, and have it mean something was special. I’m a very purposeful person; I always ask the reason and I do things because of the reason behind it. 

What pushes you to be the best person you can be? 

My faith, my love for humanity and people and the realization that one day, I won’t be here. Life doesn’t last forever and I would like to leave a legacy of love and create a positive impact to leave the world better after I’m gone. 

What is your favorite song(s) to listen to while running/working out? 

I have a very diverse and eclectic playlist that I build daily. It includes everything from rock, pop, hip-hop, rap, musical/movie soundtracks (like Rent and The Greatest Showman) and reggae/dance hall to artists such as Gyptian, Justin Bieber, Drake, Tupac, The Beatles, Shakira, Naughty by Nature, Fantasia, Nelly Furtado and Michael Jackson to name a few. Pretty much anything that catches my ear.