The Safari Retreat: Embodied Running
Tanzania, East Africa
September 25th - October 5th 2019
During our Safari Retreat, we'll spend 10 days in Tanzania unpacking the ways running is hitched to our core beliefs about being alive.
We’ll explore how we have come to understand and value our minds and bodies on and off the track through running, body movement, group therapy, and other mindfulness practices.
Having experienced both the image of our bodies and the sensations of our bodies in a new context, we’ll leave feeling a deep sense of coming home to ourselves while being equipped with practical and personal skills to tune in, engage with cultural dialogue, and integrate new aspects of our interior lives in pursuit of our running and non-running goals. We hope you’ll join us.
Meet YOUR guides
Hillary McBride
Hillary McBride is a PhD candidate at UBC and a Registered Clinical Counsellor in private practice in Vancouver. Her clinical work includes complex and acute mental illness and supporting adults towards wellbeing, but her areas of clinical specialty focus include trauma, perinatal mental health, spirituality and mental health, and women's relationship with their bodies, feminist and experiential approaches to therapy, interpersonal neurobiology, attachment work, existentialism, sex, sexuality, and gender.
Her academic research is focused on women's experiences across the developmental lifespan from a feminist perspective, including motherhood, puberty, body image and eating disorders, sex and sexuality, aging, and trauma. Her work has been recognized by the American Psychological Association, the Canadian Psychological Association, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, a national award from the Government of Canada for Compelling Doctoral research. In 2017 she was awarded the international Young Investigators Award for her work in human sexuality, and recently published her first book with Post Hill Press entitled "Mothers, daughters, and body image: Learning to love ourselves as we are".
Her most recent book, "Embodiment and Eating Disorders: Theory, Research, Prevention, and Treatment" is an edited volume, and came out in July 2018. You can hear her work as a co-host on The Liturgists Podcast and the host and therapist on CBC's Other Peoples Problems. Learn more about her work at www.hillarylmcbride.com, or follow her on Instagram @hillaryliannamcbride or on twitter @hillarylmcbride.
Karly Borden
I’m the founder and head coach of The Public Run Club. I've used running as both a sedative and a distraction, but now I run to feel deeply connected to myself-- which is the part of my running that I'm most proud of and want to share with as many listening ears as possible. My personal relationship with running, my background as an RRCA certified running coach, and my experience as a career coach have equipped me to challenge and support the stories people tell themselves about themselves, particularly through the lens of sport.
I started The Public Run Club after sensing the lock-step movement emerging from women of all-levels in the running community who are confronting and expanding how they understand and value their minds and bodies. If running is hitched to our core beliefs about being alive (and I think it is) then our 10 day retreat together is going to make quite the splash in both our personal and communal lives.
SAFARI itinerary*
After a morning of yoga and meditation, our Embodied Running Safari begins with a day-trip to a national park for game-viewing, followed by a scenic run in the foothills of Mount Meru and cooling off in a spectacular waterfall to stave off our jet-lag. After a round of afternoon chai, we'll kick off our first embodiment session together, then enjoy sun-downers and down-time before dinner.
Over the following few days, we’ll enjoy easy group runs (between 5-10 miles) through farms and forests, swimming in rivers and waterfalls, and/or just relaxing on the terraces in the gardens at our lodges (it's perfection.)
We’ll ease into each day with yoga and meditation before breakfast, followed by a fully-supported group run in one of the most beautiful, most remote, and friendliest places on earth. We'll spend the afternoon settling down with chai (as you do), then press into an evening of unpacking Embodiment in a safe and welcoming environment.
We’ll enjoy (more) afternoon chai with our local friends and family before visiting spots like the African Cultural Heritage Center and the Tanzanite museum as we make our way to the airport for our departing flight.
*Subject to change
The Logistics
Running: Each run is guided and vehicle-supported so good-cheer, snacks and pick-me-up rides are never far away. You must be able to run 5 miles (don’t worry you’ve got time...) at one time. Don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any concerns about this mileage.
Food: You will be treated to fresh food at each and every meal. We’ll keep that Tanzanian coffee and chai flowin’, and we’ll be sure to dish out pre- and post-run snacks throughout the week, too.
Accommodations: Each evening, you’ll have a comfortable, unique, shared-room accommodation (including a coffee lodge, a tented lodge, and a thatched cottage), which will include a hot shower, sink, and flushing toilet.
Safety: Traveling to new places always surfaces new questions, particularly about safety. We consider the risk in Tanzania to be petty theft and possible mugging, and we consider these to be normal in all travel. Road safety is on the forefront of our minds, and we feel that experienced drivers in reliable cars are the key (check and check!) There are no current issues in regards to frequent robberies in the areas we'll be traveling to-- in fact, many groups of women come on safaris together to these locations and our African guide (Abi) typically serves as the tour guide for these groups. In general, Tanzanians knows that tourist income is very important and they want it to be safe here for tourists. We always encourage taking the common-sense precautions of not being out late on the streets and not walking around with cameras and phones and cash in easy to grab places.
THE PRICE
Price starts at $6,800.
A $500 non-refundable deposit is required to reserve your space, which will be credited to your overall trip fees once submitted. 100% of your balance is due by August 1, 2019.
Price Includes:
Arrival and departure airport transfers
Accommodation as indicated
Activities as indicated, including race entry fee
Meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and running snacks)
All park fees, and government taxes
Services of Professional English-speaking driver-guide
Game drives in Land Cruiser with pop up roof tops and guarantee window seat
Bottled water while on safari
Unlimited mileage on the safari
Price Excludes:
International airfare
Items of a personal nature such as passport, visa, and traveler's insurance.
Tips to driver-guide
Massages and personal activities at resorts
Insurance: We strongly advise our guests to purchase travel protection insurance. Due to unexpected events, illness, and emergencies, one risks losing all or part of their travel investment. In the absence of travel protection insurance, you are not covered for any losses sustained in addition to tour costs, such as medical expenses, baggage loss.
*In order to host this safari, please note that the trip requires a minimum of 11 registrants by August 1st, 2019.
Have questions? Email karly@thepublicrunclub.com for answers!
Let's go to Africa together.