Cultural running retreats are increasingly popular. Photo / Alessio Soggetti on Unsplash
Cultural running retreats are increasingly popular. Photo / Alessio Soggetti on Unsplash
If you make one fitness resolution, it should be a cultural running retreat, writes Thomas Bywater
It’s January. That time of the year when gyms, parks and running tracks are filled with good intentions and an influx of new arrivals. Don’t be fooled. Like tinsel, Mariah Carey and miniature chocolates, it’s only a seasonal fixture. Most will be gone again this time next month.
Running is one of the easiest wellness pursuits to take up but the hardest to keep going. There is, however, a new travel trend that could help you stay the course: the running retreat.
If you’ve hit a wall in your New Year’s resolution, how about swapping that tired park circuit for five days in Mexico’s Sierra Madre? Try logging out of Strava and dialling into a community of like-minded runners who are out to see the world. A globe-trotting running getaway might be just the thing to banish the January blues.
Mauricio Diaz and his team have been leading such trips since 2017. From the mountains of South America to the Scottish Highlands, the Aire Libre formula has found a unique way of connecting amazing landscapes, mindfulness and wellness goals for people in a hurry.
Most recently, this included leading 14 trail runners over the Routeburn Pass. New Zealand is the latest destination to get the international running retreat treatment. Though Mauricio stresses it’s not about PBs and running shoes. The Aire Libre way is about getting closer to places and cultures you normally only experience on foot.
Running retreats offer community, culture and fitness for runners of all levels, making them the ultimate travel adventure. Photo / Supplied
“It’s not only about the running but the stories and the meanings we can explore through movement in the places that we go to,” he says.
The genial, bearded 37-year-old from Mexico City is evangelical about seeing the world in a pair of running shoes. Yes, there will be exercise. Participants are expected to cover an average of 5 to 16 kilometres a day, depending on the retreat. But it will be worth it when you get there. Jogging to breakfast at the family table of a Peruvian hill farm or a refreshing dip in a Roman Bath in the French Pyrenees are not stops you’ll find on the tour bus route.
With a calendar of monthly international trips for runners and hikers, he’s keen to share his enthusiasm with Aire Libre guests, no matter what stage they are at in their fitness journey.
Guests run an average of 5–16 km per day, interspersed with local experiences and meals. Photo / Supplied
Running: An invitation to explore
This mission has taken Mauricio around the world. However, his inspiration and the seeds of the company are Mexican. It all began as a run he and four friends had planned though the Sonora Desert, along the Sea of Cortez. They soon learned this land was of special significance to several indigenous groups along the trail. His friend Manuel Morato, and eventual co-founder of Aire Libre, suggested it would be a good idea to make contact first.
“It was his mother who had the connection with the Seri people”, she said: ‘You can’t just show up. You have to ask permission.’” For the urbane trail runner from Mexico City, this was a revelation.
“When we did that, all the pieces came together,” he says. Mauricio was surprised at how the Seri elders were not only supportive but delighted to have been engaged. The conversation meant they were no longer heading into the desert as endurance runners but as guests. “You don’t just invite yourself into someone’s home without knocking and making an introduction first,” he explained.
Accessing public lands is something many runners take for granted in parts of the world – this conversation sparked a deeper appreciation for the place. It was an introduction to local knowledge. It opened a dialogue not only with the indigenous community but also the landscape.
“It really changes things when you make these relationships. When you ask permission you will often not only get a ‘yes’ but support and a chance to experience something deeper, because you have been respectful,” he says.
It was the inspiration to invite others to engage with local cultures through running. Then one January in 2017, they led their first retreat in Oaxaca. The southern Mexican state is known for its green mountains, richly spiced cuisine and Mezcal spirits. Also the similar sounding, but far-healthier Temazcal hot-house ceremony – a kind of Mexican sauna with a spiritual dimension. Mauricio says he wanted Aire Libre guests to experience all of these as part of the retreat.
“They’re as if not more important than the run. For our experiences the running is not the end. The running is just the vehicle to explore the land and connect with it,” he says.
It’s a formula that has been adapted for destinations as diverse as Japan’s Kanagawa prefecture to the Main Divide of New Zealand’s South Island. However, it’s the group’s connections to Oaxaca that keep them coming back. The group ran retreat there this year during the Day of the Dead in November, with night runs through the Sierra Norte, fields of marigolds and 60km over seven days. Mauricio said it was important not only to cover the ground but to give guests the authentic experience with the Zapotec cultures.
“Especially in places like Mexico, Peru, Bolivia or countries where there is a legacy of ancient spiritual practices, we like to learn from them and bring them on the journey. All these pieces added together make the experience.”
Aire Libre attracts runners of all levels, from marathoners to those new to the sport. Photo / Supplied
What makes an ideal running retreat?
The Aire Libre experience finally arrived in New Zealand last year. With events such as Te Anau’s Kepler Run drawing trail runners from around the globe, it was high on the organisers’ list. However, the team were determined to deliver something different than another scenic trail run. Based out of Glenorchy, the six-day retreat wanted to incorporate an appreciation for Māoritanga and the different peoples who had forged their way through the Southern Alps.
For tour leader and Scotland-based trail runner George Bauer, finding collaborators was an important consideration when designing the course. Kiwi guides Matt Willocks and Aaron Kerehoma, a well respected Māori health practitioner and fitness instructor, were there to help facilitate the running but also the cultural elements of the week.
Aaron said he was honoured to have been invited as a “pou tikanga” for the event, as someone to “hold space and communicate the experience through a te ao Māori lens”. George and Matt, who grew up in Dunedin and Queenstown, wanted to blend their passion for the environment with traditional Māori practices for the international running guests.
This involved leading sound healing with taonga pūoro and beginning each run with a daily focus before heading into the bush. Aaron said it was also an opportunity for the mostly US and South American guests to open up about their own experiences.
“Getting out there, experiencing other cultures, is what it’s about. It only strengthens my own perspective and understanding,” says Aaron.
The 58km of trails from the Rees-Dart to Lake Rere, on the other side of the Divide are, rightly, regarded as some of the most scenic in the country. It’s named Paradise for a reason, but the retreat was about giving guests context as manuhiri.
“Acknowledging, listening and learning from indigenous or traditional ways of life is my number one in terms of experience design,” says George. “We all have so much to learn [from other cultures] and this is especially important in the current social and political climate.”
For all the structure, the runs, the yoga and morning Karakia, George said the most memorable elements were from an international group sharing their experiences in a new setting.
“The golden moments come in the downtime; sharing a meal, hanging out your wet shoes to dry or an early morning cuppa,” he says. For every run or activity there is a chance to unwind informally.
“I think far too often we hang and run with those of a similar vibe and such magic happens when slow down to encompass all runners no matter their background.”
Running retreats often include unexpected cultural activities like sound healing and spiritual ceremonies. Photo / Supplied
Running retreats, the anti-strava?
For those picking up running this January, there is nothing less motivating than being told how many flights of stairs you’ve climbed that day. Or that you are already the 27-hundredth-fastest person to run your street.
With so many running apps focusing on competition and completionism, it isn’t always an encouraging pursuit to take up. On a running retreat, meanwhile, it’s a team pursuit.
Mauricio Diaz says he’s been delighted by how diverse the response has been to the Aire Libre retreats. The average age skews late thirties or older and mostly female, but it is a diverse appeal. There is also a sense of community that helps to banish the loneliness of the long-distance runner.
The retreats appeal to runners in their late thirties or older, with a majority of participants being women. Photo / Supplied
“On any retreat, you might have someone who has done the Boston Marathon, an ultra-marathon runner and someone who has just begun running that year,” he says. “Anyone who’s running fast, we’ll get them to push themselves, but we start together, we finish together.”
In the end, the retreats are not designed to be a race but a tour, built around storytelling and cultural experiences. No one is there to measure performance, times or distance. A running retreat is something quite different to a training camp or a running event. Many guests are there as much for the mindfulness as the experience of running through wild surroundings.
“If you run to explore – that’s our definition of being present,” says Mauricio. “Being present in the moment. That’s my understanding of being mindful.”
No one tracks your speed or distance – these retreats are about exploration, not competition. Photo / Supplied
Whatever time it takes guests to cover the distance, they’ll all have a chance to experience the same cultural activities. Guides certainly won’t be checking your split.
It’s an attitude that can take a while for some runners to tune into. Mauricio recalls a retreat he was running in Arizona, with an activity being led by members of the Native American Hopi tribe.
“The Hopi are known as really good runners. One of the members was telling us about the details of something called the Snake Ceremony,” he said.
Retreats combine wellness goals with mindfulness, focusing on being present in stunning natural settings. Photo / Supplied
The Hopi have ritual races around the ceremony that can last all day, with the lead being passed to whoever can chase the frontrunner down, until there are no competitors left. Mauricio described it as, essentially, an enormous game of tag in the desert.
“It was incredible. So I asked ‘Oh, how much distance do you cover?’,” says Mauricio.
He had not expected to be answered with a chuckle and a raised eyebrow: “Time and distance. That’s something only white people measure.”
Detail
Aire Libre is running 11 running and hiking experiences from March this year including a return to the Routeburn, and Oaxaca for the Day of the Dead.
