The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Rawdawg

Rawdawg runners stand on top of a food truck (courtesy of Faik Dalan)

Sweat, sculpted young people, and shirtless guys – it may sound like a lively club scene in Downtown Austin. But this isn’t nightlife. This is one of Austin’s most popular run clubs, Rawdawg. And it’s barely 8am.

“Gooood morninggg,” Noah Rolette yells into a megaphone from the roof of Eastside pizza joint Sammataro. The 23-year-old stands beside his three fellow Rawdawg founders as they face hundreds of cheering runners. “I just gotta say that y’all are the sexiest faces I’ve ever seen in such a dense, populated location.”

Their motto is “sexy faces and sexy paces,” and from February to July, they joined one of Austin’s most popular exercise crazes, run clubs. Every Saturday morning at 8am, founders Tin Nguyen, Darren Belasa, Ian Fonz, and Rolette, led a 5K run – influencer style. Through vlogging and savvy social media marketing, the group attracted upward of 800 young, like-minded people eager to “rawdawg” it through life. Yet, with their popularity and rowdy lifestyle, they were met with backlash from Austin runners and residents alike.

“We tend to just rawdawg a lot of things,” 24-year-old Nguyen said. “We didn’t study how to start a run club before we did it. We were just kind of like, 'All right, let’s do this.’ Then it was just learning from our mistakes every week. That’s kind of how we grew.”

At least, it was until complaints prompted the city of Austin to disband Rawdawg in July.

“The people that loved us was the majority, but the loud minority was the people that hated us, and they were doing everything they could to make us disappear,” Nguyen said.

The men, who bonded over their passion for fitness, created Rawdawg Media in October 2023 before running the Honolulu marathon together. They shared videos and lifestyle content with the goal of making Rawdawg a brand with merchandise, sponsors, and a community of followers. A run club was the first step.

“The whole reason we started Rawdawg was just to meet other people in Austin that felt the same way we did about fitness, life, and entrepreneurship,” Nguyen said.

For several months, the men held run clubs starting at Vic Mathias and Zilker Park but frequently changed locations as their social media attention grew and attendance doubled weekly. They were asked to leave Lady Bird Lake Trail in March as the Trail Conservancy received complaints from trail users about disorderly conduct. These grievances were posted online.

“This club actually ran into me, as I ran on the far side of the trail... Literally shoulder checked me as I ran... Not the best run group,” commented Facebook user Christopher Stewart Mickler-Lemelle under an Austin American-Statesman photo package about Rawdawg.

By late April, the men left the Downtown scene, meeting instead at Sammataro and running through East Austin’s Rosewood neighborhood. When neighbors complained about loud disturbances and blocked driveways, they moved to their final location, Cabana Club, in June. Here, Nguyen recalls angry residents showing up, taking pictures, and causing a scene. He thinks this animosity runs deeper than simply overcrowding trails.

“I think they have a misconception of who we are. Obviously the name doesn’t help our case, and then we’re all just young, always have our shirts off, we’re tatted and we’re minorities,” Nguyen said. “We just fit the description of what these people who are making stuff up about us say.”

While this provocative image angered some, it’s initially what attracted UT-Austin senior Faik Dalan, who did three runs with Rawdawg.

The Lady Bird Lake Trail was Rawdawg run club’s venue every Saturday at 8am this spring. Following complaints about trail congestion and poor etiquette, the Trail Conservancy asked the group to leave. (photo by Lauren Peck)

“The content that they’re making is just very appealing,” Dalan said. “If anything, it feels rebellious that these young people can smoke a cigarette or weed and then go run 10 miles out of nowhere.”

As a seasoned runner, however, Dalan agrees that there’s a level of structure and etiquette required for a successful run club. Rawdawg’s unwillingness to comply with the city and its community foreshadowed its downfall.

“There’s tons of run clubs in Austin, and they’re still around,” Dalan said. “They’ve never been kicked out, but they’re like, 'All right, like, if you’re gonna do this, do it the right way through the proper channels.’”

On July 20, Rawdawg held its last run. According to the Austin Development Services Department, code inspectors responded to complaints of alleged city ordinance violations from the surrounding community. City officials showed up at Cabana Club and served the four founders with citations.

“They’re trying to stop us, but we’re not fuckin’ stoppin!” Fonz yelled into a megaphone to a crowd of runners at their final run club as shown in a YouTube video the group posted.

Rawdawg leaders met with the Austin Center for Events in July to discuss the required special event permits to continue their club. However, due to a lack of time and money, the group has held off on obtaining the permits since.

“They just don’t know what to do with us, because this is the first time they’ve had to permit a run club,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen is right. Erik Johnson of the Development Services Department said that Rawdawg was operating in spaces that did not have the proper legal use to accompany an event of their size and scope. Additionally, Rawdawg’s focus on brand-building by providing free food, drinks, and sponsored merchandise also requires a permit.

“Other run clubs may not require a permit because they gather at businesses whose legal uses allow these types of gatherings and are able to use sidewalks and trails within existing regulations for the public right-of-way,” Johnson said in an email.

“I’m proud of the city for cracking down on them for their lack of permit,” Reddit user horseman5K said. “They’re not just a social group, they’re a for-profit commercial business.”

While Rawdawg’s controversy hindered its events in Austin, it has since expanded all over the United States, hosting run clubs in Miami, Chicago, and New York. Its goal is to continue building the Rawdawg brand and eventually establish a multifunctional creative space where young professionals have room to work, exercise, and play.

As for Austin, the men have a soft spot.

“The plan is to come back to Austin once a month and then travel and do run clubs,” Nguyen said. “It’s like we still keep the love for Austin, but we don’t disrupt the people that hate us here.”

The men held their first run club since the shutdown on Saturday at the Other Racquet Social Club. Attendees were required to RSVP in order to know its location. They plan to have their next run club and toy drive on Dec. 21 at the Circuit of the Americas.

“Rawdawg itself, it’s a movement at the end of the day. It’s a way of life,” Nguyen said. “It is more than just a run club.”