Runningman is turning the notion of a traditional running event on its head, offering three days of wellness experiences, camping and communal bonding in a unique setting
On one fateful weekend last fall, nearly one thousand like-minded individuals gathered in rural Georgia to celebrate a shared passion, make friends and build community.
That gathering wasn’t for a Georgia Bulldogs football game or church get-together; it was for Runningman, a new fitness and wellness retreat that’s turning the notion of a traditional running event on its head.
The brainchild of entrepreneur, motivational speaker and social media personality Jesse Itzler and his All Day Running Co., Runningman was first held in 2023 and is back for a second time this fall. The 2024 event will take place September 13-15 at Kingston Downs, a 5,000-acre retreat in Rome, Georgia, an hour and a half outside Atlanta.
The three-day event features a one-mile track where attendees can run or walk any distance of their choosing over eight hours. But Runningman isn’t a traditional race. Inside the track, attendees set up tents and can partake in a bevy of fitness and wellness experiences, from the world’s largest indoor sauna to cold plunges to breakout sessions featuring industry experts.
Runningman has quickly attracted some of the biggest brands in fitness and wellness to serve as partners – Hyperice, Plunge and Athletic Brewing Co. to name just a few – along with top names in entertainment. Mike Posner will perform live at this year’s event.
“One part festival, one part race, one part retreat” is how Itzler describes the unique event. He also calls it the “Woodstock of wellness.”
Itzler sat down with Athletech News to discuss the birth of Runningman, give a glimpse into what attendees can expect next month in Kingston Downs, and explain why he believes experience-driven events are the future of fitness and wellness.
The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Athletech News: How did you come up with the idea for a unique event like Runningman?
Jesse Itzler: I’ve been running races for over 30 years, and they’re all very similar – sign up for a race, run the race, get a medal and go home. That’s fun, but nothing has evolved in that space over the last several decades. There’s a whole pre and post-race culture and energy that we wanted to capture. So we set this event up as a three-day festival, a unique way to experience a running event.
The format of our race is completely different, too. Most races are point-to-point, meaning you run out, turn around and come back, or you run to a destination. We built our race around a one-mile loop, and people can choose whatever distance they want to run over an eight-hour period. In a loop, you’re going to meet a lot of people.
Jesse Itzler (credit: All Day Running Co.)
ATN: How long did it take you and your team to bring Runningman from idea to fruition and hold the first event in the fall of 2023?
JI: It took about nine months to really build it out and get it all together. We have an amazing location in Kingston Downs. We wanted it to feel “Woodstock-y.” In Kingston, we found the perfect grounds where we could build a little village. We learned a lot in year one, so in year two it hasn’t taken as long to pull it all off.
ATN: How has Runningman unfolded compared to your expectations for the event?
JI: It’s very different from what I thought it would be. I thought it was going to be very running-focused, but the running component has actually become a small part of the experience.
It’s a one-stop destination for health, wellness and fitness, and it happens to have a cool running race. We have the world’s largest sauna, a cold plunge and recovery area, breakout sessions featuring speakers talking about everything from sleep to recovery to performance, and a bunch of different brands showcasing the latest in their technologies, products and services. This is like the Woodstock of wellness.
There’s also incredible access – usually, when you go to a conference and someone speaks on stage, they then get whisked backstage and leave the arena. At Runningman last year, people were talking to (ultramarathon runner) Courtney Dauwalter, along with some of the best minds in fitness and wellness.
credit: All Day Running Co.
ATN: Runningman has put together an impressive list of fitness and wellness brands to serve as partners. Why have brands been so eager to attend?
JI: It’s the best environment for brands to showcase their products because we’re giving them a warm audience in an active environment, trying products and services in real-time before, during and after a race. If you’re an electrolyte company, we’re providing you with an audience that can use it in the best conditions. If you’re a coconut water company and you want people to get hydrated, this is the best place to reach them.
And we built this whole village, including an infield of camping tents where people sleep, along with sauna and cold plunge, a stage, food area, vendors, etc., all around this enormous track. So if you’re a brand and you want to get testimonials and or content you can use on your (social media) platforms, the movie set is already built. It’s way cheaper than setting up a photoshoot.
credit: All Day Running Co.
ATN: How do you go about marketing such a unique event?
JI: We’re positioning it as one part festival, one part race and one part retreat. But we’re relying a lot on our alumni and our customer base. I think the best way to market a new product or new event is person to person, friend to friend.
Luckily, we had over 800 (attendees) last year, and they’re our best cheerleaders and champions. This year, there’ll be more new people coming (over 1,000 attendees are expected) and they’ll be our best champions as well as they talk about it with their friends and community.
ATN: You’ve built an impressive career as an entrepreneur and a disruptor. Where do you see the fitness and wellness industry heading over the next few years?
JI: People are craving community, and people are craving making themselves better in all areas of their lives. People still may like to sit on the beach, but there’s a massive transition into an experience economy. I think that’s starting to hit health and wellness now. You’re starting to see adventure races, you’re starting to see people traveling to destinations for races and you’re starting to see people going away to spas in really exotic places. Runningman is doing that for health, wellness and running – a lot of people leave having done things they’ve never done before.
I think that’s the direction the whole industry is heading, being really experience-driven.
credit: All Day Running Co.
ATN: Overall, what do you want attendees to take away from the Runningman experience?
JI: It’s hard to explain on paper a feeling that you get. I really do think people who attended last year had some kind of transformation. There were a lot of people who became friends and stayed in touch (after the event). I did 50,000 things last year, I was all over the place traveling the country, but this weekend was my favorite weekend of the year.
What made it so fun was that people wanted to have fun. If I go to a local race, say I live in New York, and I get on the subway and go to Central Park, run a race and go home, that’s a lot different than if I get on a plane and go to Kingston in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes it’s good to go where the Wi-Fi isn’t. When you travel to a destination, you feel like, “Wow, I’m invested in this. And if I’m invested in it, I’m going to get the most I can out of it over the two or three days that I’m there.”
Get your pass for Runningman 2024 here.
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