On a rainy Saturday morning, the kind meant for staying in bed, a crowd of young people, most of them Black, braved the showers and gathered at Pier 63 in Manhattan for a run. They weren’t there just for the love of running. They were there for Gunna.
The 32-year-old rapper has undergone a major glow-up since a 2022 jail stint, trading unhealthy habits for purpose. Music is still central to that, and fans are all in, running up streams for his 2025 album The Last Wun. But he now prioritizes movement and clean eating too, previously sharing that he works out six times a week. People have watched him lean out, focus up, and move through life now with a calm clarity. An unbothered king. Inspired, they showed up under a gloomy sky to run alongside him. Now that’s influence.
Many came through the Peak and Pace run club. Based in Brooklyn and started in 2024, the group partnered with Gunna to host the Wunna Run Club 5K. Those who finished the 3.1-mile route on Saturday up The High Line earned a medal (plus a towel, shirt, water and bag) and a taste of what it feels like to run in community—with people who look like you, encourage you, and have fun doing it. For me, a recent finisher of the New York City Marathon, it was a nice change of pace.
“When you do something with passion and a core mission, and you’re relentless about it, extraordinary things happen,” says Peak and Pace founder Owen Akhibi Hererra. “We started this run club 15 months ago with 12 people. Now we’re hosting one of the world’s biggest stars with 2,000 runners. But none of that happens alone. You need a team that can move independently, make decisions, and own their lane—people who are not just good, but the best at what they do. In a time when real community feels rare, this is how it’s created. Not by one person, but by a group aligned around the same mission. That’s how you go from a run club to a movement.”
That idea—building a movement—could be at the heart of Gunna’s 5K runs, happening first in NYC before expanding to other cities that will host his Wun World Tour. Front and center, dressed in Under Armour (he’s on the brand’s roster), he led the pack through a bustling Chelsea neighborhood, giving people a taste of what pushing past their limits can feel like. Everyone benefited, including kids who even joined in.
And the fun continued after the finish line. Following the race, participants could be seen vibing out to a DJ spinning Gunna’s hits. Despite the wet grass, people were in their element: someone waved a massive Wunna Run Club flag; others two-stepped in their running gear; many posed proudly with their medals. With any luck, the running bug bit a few of them—and they’ll show up to the next Peak and Pace event, a Turkey Trot 5K Walk/Run on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 10 a.m. in Prospect Park. Maybe this will jump-start someone else’s journey.
Running has certainly done wonders for Gunna. He finished the 5K around the eight-minute mark and, asked how he felt after cruising through the city’s hustle and bustle, answered, “I feel good! I’m ready to perform.” And he was: that night, he delivered a high-octane, sold-out show at Madison Square Garden, fully in the zone. His rise—powerful enough to get fans moving not just to his music, but with their bodies—has created a new lane for him beyond rap: wellness guru. It all began because he decided to make a change for himself, and that’s how all first steps to greatness begin. With some effort. Kudos to the MC for using his influence not only to get young people to come out for him, no matter the weather, but to also do so in the name of good health.