Meet Dawud Hasan | Forward thinking idealist that has a strong desire to push the boundaries of what’s known

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dawud Hasan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dawud, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I have always had an entrepreneurial mind frame. I started off shoveling snow as a kid at 10, 11 years old. Growing up in New York, I would look forward to winter time when we would have blizzards and school would be canceled. Id go out around the neighborhood with my little shovel and ask to shovel peoples driveways and sidewalks for $20. At 11 years old if I hit 5 houses I was rich! So thats where my independent mind came from. My father and mother are and were both entrepreneurs as well. My father co owned and opporated a carpet cleaning business for years after retiring from the military. My mother and her sister had many ventures that they went into through the years as well. My mother is the forat person to put it in my mind that I could be a free thinker and not have to follow the standard formula of going to school, getting a career, have a family, retire then die. Ive always wanted more out of life than the rat race. So as I became older I think I naturally just kept pursuing my unique interests and tried to make money from them. From selling cds to event organizing, I ha e tried to find my way through life with my own imagination. Not the easiest path to take, or the most popular, expecially pre pandemic.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What sets the Hiphop5k apart from others is the delicate alchemy of blending the cuktures of Hiphop and running. The way our run is set up is a balance of community, culture, health, wellness and forward thinking. This is vital to our uniqueness because it is something that cant juat be duplicated by logistics. You have to have the love, the passion and the foresite to see generate the plateform of total wellness that we generate. Our event is one of a kind and as we expand the vision further out, the world will get to see and experience this merger of cultures that has created a safe space to express total wellness in communities that are forgotten.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First off we are going straight to the beach. Being from NY the beaches in SD are my sanctuary. I would bring them to Ocean Beach. That is the first beach I hung out in when I moved here in the 90s. Yes, there might be fancier beaches in the city but I love the vibes in ob. I was born in Hawaii and still operate on island time lol. So we are going to OB. We are going to mob up newport a bit, barring this is a thur we are going to check out the farmers market and vibe with the people. Then lets say we smash over to Hodads and grab some food. After eating and chilling on the beach for a bit we could head to the gas lamp and kick it.

The next morning we probably would go on a hike. Daygo has so many great hikes, but id do a relatively easy trail in mission trails.

Local food is always a must so after our hike we are headed to Southeast to Euclid and Imperial to a taco shop on the corner, I cant remember the name right now but they have the best fish and cheese burritos in the city.

That is basically what I do with people who come from out of town. Feed them, walk with them and show them this paradise of a city we live in!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to give a mighty mighty shoutout to my big brother Terrell Rackley! He is the co founder of the Hiphop5k. There are a handful of people who aided in the early development of the 5k and I salute and respect them all, but Terrell has been thee most consistent bar none.

Website: Sdhiphop5k.com

Instagram: dawudhasan23

Facebook: Dawud Hasan