Run, Write, Repeat
A Dream Run Camp Retreat
Are you a runner who loves to write?
A writer who loves to run?
If so, Run, Write, Repeat is an experience you don’t want to miss! This unique three-night retreat will be held August 15-18, 2024 in the running mecca of Flagstaff, Arizona, and hosted by world-renowned running author Matt Fitzgerald and Emily Pifer, MFA, author of the critically acclaimed memoir The Running Body.
Here’s your chance to nourish both sides of your writer-runner identity in an intimate, supportive environment. Balancing fun with productivity, Run, Write, Repeat will feature:
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Group runs in gorgeous locations
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Optional strength training session
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Full access to Dream Run Camp amenities
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Writing workshops and writing time
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Special guests and presentations
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Great food and Flagstaff sightseeing
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One-on-one time with Matt and Emily
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Peer networking and the opportunity to create a lifelong community of fellow writer-runners
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Opportunity to contribute a personal essay to the Arizona Daily Sun‘s High Country Running column.
To maximize the value of the experience for each participant, we are limiting enrollment to twelve individuals on a first-come, first-serve basis. Your all-inclusive registration fee of $1,995 (plus $100 for a bedroom with en suite bathroom) covers:
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Lodging at Dream Run Camp
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All meals and drinks
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Local transportation
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All group activities
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Signed copies of The Running Body and Running the Dream
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18-week custom running plan
Additionally, the retreat will offer each participant the opportunity to share a 20-page work-in-progress with workshop leaders (Emily and Matt) and fellow participants. During individual workshop sessions, participants will receive constructive feedback and encouragement on their work, along with in-depth, one-on-one editorial guidance from Matt and Emily.
If you’re interested, email Matt at matt@dreamruncamp.com or schedule a video call with Matt to learn more and get your questions answered.
Retreat Agenda
Thursday, August 15
6:00 PM – Welcome Dinner at Dream Run Camp
7:00 PM – Introvert-Friendly Group Icebreaker
Friday,
August 16
6:00-7:30 AM – Breakfast
8:00 AM – Group Run at Buffalo Park
10:30 AM – Emily Presents: “Writing With and Without Fear”
12:00 PM – Lunch at Dream Run Camp with Special Guest Speaker
1:00 PM – Group Writing Workshop
3:00 PM – One-on-One Sessions with Matt and Emily
4:00 PM – Visit to HOKA Northern Arizona Elite HQ
6:00 PM – Dinner at Cornish Pasty Co.
8:00 PM – Stargazing/Fire Pit Hangout
Saturday, August 17
6:00-7:30 AM – Breakfast
8:00 AM – Group Run at Bellemont
10:30 AM – Matt Presents: “Write Like a Runner”
12:00 PM – Lunch at Dream Run Camp with Special Guest Speaker
1:00 PM – Writing Workshop at Late for the Train
3:00 PM – Free Time/Optional Strength Workout
4:00 PM – One-on-One Sessions with Matt and Emily
6:00 PM – Dinner at Pizzicletta
8:00 PM – Stargazing/Fire Pit Hangout
Sunday,
August 18
6:00-7:30 AM – Breakfast
8:00 AM – Wrap-Up Session
Meet Our Instructors
Matt Fitzgerald
Matt Fitzgerald has authored or coauthored more than 30 books—including top sellers 80/20 Running and How Bad Do You Want It?—with cumulative worldwide sales estimated at more than 1,000,000 copies in English, Chinese, German, Spanish, Russian, Hungarian, Polish, audio, and other editions. His 2011 book Iron War was longlisted for that year’s William Hill Sports Book of the Year award. A former editor for Triathlete, Active.com, and Competitor.com, Matt has also written for Outside, Runner’s World, Shape, and numerous other publications. He is the cofounder of 80/20 Publishing, an endurance sports-focused book publisher distributed by Simon & Schuster.
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Write Like a Runner
It’s no accident that a lot of writers are runners, and vice versa. The same temperament that draws man of us toward writing makes running appealing to as well. Having dedicated myself to writing at age nine and started running two years later, I’ve spent a lifetime developing an approach and a skillset that enable me to pursue my personal best in both of these passions. In this session, I will highlight specific tools, including goal-setting, pacing, and progression, that are often learned more easily in running but translate naturally to writing. My goal is to ensure every participant leaves with something concrete they can take home and apply immediately to their work.
Emily Pifer
Emily Pifer received her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Wyoming and is now a PhD candidate in composition and cultural rhetoric at Syracuse University, where she teaches courses in creative nonfiction and critical research and writing. Her work has appeared in The Fiddlehead, Brevity’s Nonfiction Blog, Women’s Health, Esquire, and elsewhere. The Running Body, her debut memoir, was chosen by Steve Almond as the winner of the 2021 Autumn House Press Nonfiction Prize. Through multiple modes of storytelling—memoir, meditation, and cultural analysis—The Running Body uncovers the effects of idolization and obsession, reckoning with power and agency, beauty and pain, loss and healing. Through the lens of long-distance running, The Running Body interrogates our relationship to magical thinking, the stories we tell ourselves, and the faultiness of memory. Emily is from West Virginia and Ohio, and she currently lives with her family in Logan, Utah.
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Writing With and Without Fear
As runners, we train ourselves mentally and physically to take on our workouts and races despite our fears of the uncomfortable, the uncertain, and the downright painful. Sometimes we are able to quiet our fears, or even totally destroy them. Other times, we must show up on our starting lines with our fears in tow. Writing—from our very first drafts to our lasts—is no different. This session offers participants the opportunity to not only examine and reflect on the fears we bring to the page, but to learn and practice strategies for both shaking our fears and continuing on when we can’t quite shake them—when we must show up with our fears and write on anyway. This session will include guidance from renowned writers, prompts for individual and collaborative reflection and examination, practical tools and exercises, and time to practice drafting with(out) our fears.
Interested? Have more questions?
Email Matt at matt@dreamruncamp.com or schedule a video call with Matt to learn more and get your questions answered.