Billboard caught up with Diplo at one of his Run Club events, and he shares how he got inspired to bridge the gap between fitness and dance music, what his PR is, tips to people who want to get into running and more!
Diplo:
I started this Run Club as sort of a meeting point between dance and fitness because I ended up at Space Nightclub after running the Miami marathon, it was 9am and DJ Tennis was playing. I texted him, I got on the guest list, and I ran there. I walked, it’s like, three blocks away from the finish line, wandered over, got in with my bib on everything, and I was like, hanging out. I was like, this is the best time ever. And I never really make it to Space that late, because I usually go to bed. I don’t really want to, unless I’m DJing. I don’t, I don’t stay out till seven, eight in the morning, like psychopaths. But I was up early, and I wouldn’t see him play. I was like, this is the best way to enjoy a DJ. I felt so clear headed. I had the best time. I loved the music. I was chilling. I made a TikTok, and the next year, like 40 kids did the same thing. They ran the marathon and went to Space. So I said, we got to do this properly. So I think we had the idea: my team, Teamwork, Wasserman Music, and we put together the first one in San Francisco about a year and a half ago, and it was a big success. So we started to make this in many different cities. And I think Phoenix was the last one we expected. We almost had 10,000 kids here. I thought it was gonna be cold. The weather said it was maybe 50 degrees, but it warmed up. This is Arizona, so when the sun comes out, it starts to cook. And we had a lot of runners, and we had the fastest runners in the history of the Run Club. One kid did like, 15 minutes and like 20 seconds. Which is just insane for a 5k that’s like, would win, like a state championship. I think I did 21:59 or 22:22. I did, like, right on the nose there. I ran, like, a little over seven minute miles. I did New York, 19:50 very fast. I threw up at the end of that.
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