Festivals usually mean loud music, overpriced drinks, and maybe a little cardio if you’re running between the beer tent and the main stage. Diplo’s Run Club was different. Really different.

Anthony W. Haddad
The Millennial RE-View

I got to the Los Angeles venue early — not because I’m super organized, but because they were closing roads for the 5K, and LA traffic doesn’t wait for anyone.

Right when I arrived, I was met by the organizers and a group of running influencers who made me feel immediately welcome. There’s a sense of closeness in the running community I haven’t seen anywhere else. Everyone’s cheering for each other, even if you’re not a pro — and I’m not a pro. I’m barely a person who runs.

Not to say all Los Angeles influencers were kind, some were rather unfriendly, but the amazing humans I met with the LA Marathon ambassadors and a video podcast “Runner Talk” gave me a kind look into the world of running.

And the organization? Immaculate. Guardrails lined the streets, cops blocked cars from cutting through, and security was everywhere. Mascot Sports clearly does this for a living, orchestrating races across the country like a general leading an army. I felt safer than I usually do at concerts, and that’s saying something.

But the real show was the runners themselves. There was a person dressed as a bear who ran in San Francisco the day before, hopped in a car, and made it to LA to do it all over again. There were inflatable dinosaurs (I dubbed them as the “Diplo Dinos”), a few people in pool floaties, some dressed as piñatas.

Everyone looked ridiculous, but in the best way — sweaty, exhausted, and having the time of their lives.

The Miles Met the Music

Over 11,000 people showed up for the first Los Angeles run at the Los Angeles State Historic Park, and even then, that was just the warm-up. After finishing the 5K, the crowd moved straight into festival mode. Diplo, also known as Thomas Wesley Pentz, and Dillon Francis — who cheekily started his own “Walk Club” mid-run — took the stage.

Vendors sold food, drinks, and running gear, and suddenly, it felt like stepping into a normal festival… except everyone had just run miles and nobody was sloppy drunk yet.

I caught up with Diplo after the race, and he was shockingly energized. He told me that in San Francisco the day prior he went for speed, finishing in just over 19 minutes. LA, he said, was different: more communal.

“All my friends are here. My family is here. My kids are here, my family’s friends’ kids are here. We got some rappers in the crowd. We got actual runners. We got fast people,” he said.

Diplo’s Connection to the Crowd

He explained the idea behind Run Club: He was already running, hanging out with other runners, and went to a post-marathon party in Miami. “I was like, this is a great experience, to go straight to a party, sober, and enjoy the DJ. So I was, like, how do we make this happen for real? So that’s the genesis of this party.” That’s it. Simple. Brilliant.

What cracked me up — and probably drove his team a little nuts — was that after finishing the race, Diplo didn’t march straight to the stage. Instead, he kept stopping to take photos and chat with fans who paid to see him.

He didn’t feel like some untouchable artist on our cardio playlists; he felt like a friend. I’ll never forget watching his team walk ahead, thinking he was with them, only to turn around and see Diplo 20 steps behind, stopping mid-street to talk to a runner he spotted. This continued to happen throughout the morning.

Diplo’s Run Club has already done Philadelphia, Seattle, San Francisco, and now LA, with upcoming stops in New York, San Diego, Miami, and Phoenix.

For a generation that’s obsessed with wellness but also refuses to miss out on a good time, this feels like a perfect fit.

You don’t have to choose between sweating for your health and dancing for your soul — you can do both, and maybe even dress as a dinosaur while you’re at it.

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