Rapper Gunna Inspires Thousands to Run in 9 Cities Worldwide

When Sergio Kitchens needed to find peace, he laced up his running shoes. The rapper known as Gunna was facing a racketeering charge four years ago, and his world felt loud and overwhelming.

Running gave him something he desperately needed: discipline. The more he ran, the more other parts of his life fell into place. He started showing up early to meetings instead of late.

"I'm in a good space, a good mental space right now," Gunna says after finishing sprints on a Malibu beach. "It's not just because of the music. It's because of the discipline."

What started as a solo fitness journey has become a movement. In September 2025, Gunna hosted his first Wunna Run 5K in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Since then, he's led runs in Toronto, Washington D.C., Miami, Atlanta, London, Johannesburg, Houston, and Los Angeles.

Thousands of fans have joined him, and Under Armour took notice, signing on as an official sponsor. The overwhelming majority of runners are Black, a community that has faced real barriers to fitness in America.

"We were not taught fitness like that," Gunna explains. In Black communities, fitness has traditionally been gatekept by organized sports. "You got to be, like, that one who really didn't go and hang out with the other friends."

The Ripple Effect

Gunna's openness about mental health and physical wellness is reaching far beyond the running track. As a multiplatinum artist with more than 10 million social media followers, his fitness posts get more views and engagement than almost anything else he shares.

"People wanted to be more educated on the workout tip and the health journey," he says. His latest album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with over 104 million streams, but the pavement is where he's making his deepest impact.

Now he works out five or six days a week with trainer Dustin Enriquez, mixing runs with strength training and boxing. On his recent 27-stop global tour across four continents, they barely missed a single workout day.

The discipline extends beyond his own routine. Gunna co-owns Flerish, a watermelon-based electrolyte drink, and has a signature protein smoothie at Cymbiotika Wellness Bar.

He's already eyeing longer races, maybe even a "Wunnathon" as he calls it. He's taken up tennis and is curious about triathlons. When asked about slacking off, he pauses and looks at the ocean: "I would feel like a failure."

His message is simple but powerful: you don't have to be an athlete to be fit, and taking care of your mental health through movement isn't weakness—it's strength that everyone deserves access to.