Sweepstakes awards a dream trail-running vacation to one of six destinations
Moshi, TANZANIA — ATTA member Summit Expeditions & Nomadic Experience has joined with five other of the world’s top adventure-running tour companies to form Run The World Adventures, a centralized service for promoting and planning running vacations to top international trail-running destinations. In addition to Tanzania, these include New Zealand, Spain’s Costa Brava, Iceland, Guatemala and the Dolomites in Italy.
Most people, even experienced runners who plan their vacations around international marathons, don’t think of running as their primary holiday activity every day. But these organizations demur, recognizing that running is a great way to see a country and meet its people, while covering much more ground than walkers and gaining access to remote areas inaccessible by motor vehicle or even bicycle. Plus, one enjoys a wonderful work-out in the process.
Run the World Adventures is comprised of locally-based companies that employ native guides, ensuring that guests enjoy an authentic cultural immersion during their visit. “I was born on the slopes of Kilimanjaro,” says co-founder and accomplished ultrarunner Simon Mtuy of SENE. “My team of East African guides and I are not only proud to show runners around this beautiful place, but also introduce them to its welcoming people.”
The Run the World Adventures consortium fits perfectly with SENE’s mission of developing unique culturally-immersive travel experiences that challenge their clients physically while opening them up to the cultural riches of local communities. All while adventuring in comfort and safety but without the ostentation that is so divergent from the local lifestyle. For example, on SENE’s Kilimanjaro Stage Run, an 8-day circumnavigation of the lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro for 8 – 12 runners, SENE’s support team sets simple camps of mobile walk-in tents on primary school grounds overlooking Amboseli National Park or in the rainforest along a gurgling stream. The cooks prepare hearty camp meals inspired by local dishes but adjusted to international palates, and the fresh-brewed organic coffee whose aroma wafts over camp in the morning is grown right on Kilimanjaro – on Simon’s own family farm.
As experienced runners themselves, company guides understand what makes a running vacation fun and carefree, with just the right amount of adventure. And since the runs are not competitive, there’s no pressure to go fast or rush through the terrain to meet a certain time cutoff. When you’re running freely, you encounter people on a human level. And you’re working hard - just like the farmer in his field. It creates a connection you wouldn’t have otherwise if you showed up in an air conditioned vehicle. That connection immediately establishes camaraderie that develops naturally into conversation and friendship.
“We came together because we are all runners with a common view that traveling on foot is the most natural way for humans to explore this earth and its diverse culture and landscapes,” says another consortium co-founder, Pablo Rodriguez. “These trips are adventures, but also your vacation, so we take care of the logistics and planning for you and you just get to run and enjoy it.”
To celebrate its official launch this month, Run the World Adventures is holding a sweepstakes that will award a $1500 USD credit toward any of its trips. The sweepstakes, found at https://www.facebook.com/runtheworldadventures, closes at midnight on Tuesday, October 7, 2014. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, October 8, 2014.