In September 2024, Another Mother Runner co-founder Sarah Bowen Shea stood on the balcony of her room at the High Peaks Resort. As she looked out onto Mirror Lake, mentally replaying several enchanting swims in that boat-free lake, Sarah vowed to return to Lake Placid. Join her as she fulfills this promise with our 2025 retreat, which expands on our previous LP retreat with even more sporty activities!
Nestled in majestic Adirondack Park, Lake Placid, NY, is one of the most beloved winter playgrounds in the U.S. Yet us runners, hikers, and walkers are convening in this alpine village at the tail end of summer, when we can still run in a single layer of workout wear, open-water swim, stand-up paddleboard, kayak, hike, and enjoy drinks al fresco. Lake Placid has a charming, walkable downtown—where our retreat host hotel is located—yet you’re never far from nature. It offers easy access to the breathtaking, unspoiled beauty of Adirondack Park—6.1 million acres of trails, rivers, streams, wildlife habitat, and more.
Our host hotel, High Peaks Resort, is at one end of lovely Main Street. Filled with so many unique restaurants, cafes, and shops, a walk around town is a fun way to spend time with friends old and new. The resort is also located on the banks of Mirror Lake, the beautiful in-town lake that is only accessible by human-powered crafts (meaning no power boats!). A 3-mile paved trail, where we’ll do morning excursions, circles Mirror Lake.
Whether you want to gain running guidance and advice from experts; run and/or hike; swim in or paddle on Mirror Lake; enjoy a yoga session or two; play pickleball; do water aerobics; take part in a multi-sport, water/land team relay; be part of a podcast recording; croon karaoke at the farewell dinner; or befriend other women runners, you will be delighted by the extended-weekend offerings.
Join a bevy of women runners for this 4-day, 3-night Run + Refresh Retreat in Lake Placid, New York, Friday, September 5 – Monday, September 8, 2025.
THE Location
The Adirondacks are the greatest natural playground on the East Coast, and Lake Placid is the center of the action! Surrounded by forests crisscrossed by tree-canopied trails and mountainous peaks, the village has a charming Main Street that backs up to boat-free Mirror Lake. A 3-mile paved trail around Mirror Lake lets visitors enjoy the lake from various vantage points, especially on our morning runs/walks. By gathering in early September, we will miss the summer crowds yet still get to enjoy warm temperatures and lake access.
An Olympic fanatic? Lake Placid was the site of two Winter Olympics Games in 1932 and 1980—which included the dramatic U.S. hockey victory over the Soviet Union, known as “The Miracle on Ice.” The area is home to several Olympic facilities, including Whiteface Mountain, the Olympic Oval, and the Olympic Jumping Complex. On Friday afternoon of the retreat, the director of the Lake Placid Olympic Museum is talking to our group about the rich history of the area. (Fun fact: Another Mother Runner co-founder Sarah Bowen Shea’s first husband is part of a Lake Placid Olympic dynasty, the Shea family, with patriarch Jack Shea winning two Olympic gold medals in the 1932 Games in his hometown of L.P.) In 2024, the fascinating talk prompted most retreat-goers to visit the museum, which houses countless, well-curated pieces of memorabilia, archival photographs, and more.
THE Hotel
With its location and the tagline, “it’s your season to unwind,” High Peaks Resort is the ideal setting for our retreat. Maria, a mother and avid runner who works at High Peaks, heard about our retreats and approached her boss about hosting an Another Mother Runner Retreat, making it feel like destiny to be there together.
High Peaks Resort is located on Lake Placid’s Main Street, meaning it’s a short stroll to shops, cafes, and coffeeshops. The Adirondack-inspired rooms reflect the wilderness that surrounds the area, bringing the outdoors in with the natural design. The property sits on the banks of Mirror Lake, the tranquil, inviting lake right in town. It allows easy access for standup paddleboarding, paddleboating, and kayaking on the lake, as well as swimming in the boat-free body of water. Prefer a human-made place to swim? Dive in: The property has two indoor pools and two outdoor pools.
Ways we’ll utilize the watery options: There will be an aqua-aerobics class offered in one of the pools (in 2024, attendees raved about the class!), and we’ll offer an open-water swimming clinic. And we are formulating a multi-sport team relay that involves swimming, SUP’ing, and running. Like ALL retreat activities, these are optional.
A member of Team Another Mother Runner who has visited Lake Placid, on learning the retreat is being held at High Peaks Resort, texted, “Oh, wow: I remember seeing that place, and thinking how great it would be to stay there!” Click here for a 360-degree look around of the grounds, amenities, rooms, and more.
THE Adventures
Our aim with this late-summertime retreat is to make it as unique as the alpine, Olympic-tradition setting: Instead of participating in a structured race, we are creating our own adventures! We’ll take morning runs (or walks—all paces welcome) around Mirror Lake, with distances ranging from 3-6 miles. With nature in abundance, we hike at least one afternoon.
Did we mention Lake Placid is home to an IRONMAN triathlon every July? The swim portion of the race is held in Mirror Lake, which our host hotel is on the banks of. On the official Ironman website, they have this to say about the boat-free body of water: “Mirror Lake, a calm, pristine lake right in the heart of Lake Placid serves as the best IRONMAN swim in the world. The water temperature is typically in the high 60s to low 70s.” (We’re ready to dive in. You with us?!?) We’ll be offering an open-water swim clinic in Mirror Lake for folks who want to hop in. (Again, like every retreat activity, this is fully optional.)
We are also enlisting a Pickleball USA instructor to lead pickleball lessons on new courts with mountain views (you better believe Sarah will be in on the action!). There will also be at least one yoga session, an aqua-aerobics class in one of the hotel’s four pools, and more. The possibilities are endless—and we guarantee you’ll enjoy them all! (And, like all activities at our retreats, everything is optional: It’s a choose-your-own-adventure scenario.)
New for 2025: We are scheming a team relay event that’ll include both water- and land-based activities. Current imagining: one gal will swim; one will SUP or kayak; and the anchor will run. All in the spirit of fun and taking full advantage of our natural playground!
And when you need something sporty, but more subdued, you can visit the Lake Placid Olympic Museum, a well-curated, fascinating collection of memorabilia, images, and video bringing to life the two Winter Olympic Games held in Lake Placid (1932 + 1980). In 2024, retreat attendees and Another Mother Runner team members were delighted by the displays.
THE Parties
Our welcome reception will be held at the High Peaks Resort, which has several beautiful venues with views of the lake and great indoor/outdoor access. To kick off the summer camp feel of this retreat, we typically engage in a fun icebreaker or two. After the welcome reception, we’ll record an episode of one of our podcasts for a behind-the-scenes look at how a show comes together. Then we’ll enjoy s’mores around the hotel’s roaring fire pit. We culminate every retreat with a celebratory dinner and a dance/karaoke party. Our philosophy: “Enthusiasm goes a long way.”
In between, you’ll be treated to delicious meals, including buffet breakfasts at the host hotel and a Saturday night dinner in town. Dietary restrictions are honored, as we ask for that information well in advance of our arrival in the Adirondacks.
THE Extras
Lake Placid serves up so much, from art galleries, store, bars, and cafés dotting nearby Main Street to sites of two Winter Olympics. (Read: bobsled track, speedskating oval, high ski jumps, and more.) The beautiful Lake Placid Olympic Museum is a treasure trove of history featuring interactive exhibits, innovative displays, and North America’s second largest Winter Olympic artifact collection. We are contemplating adventures that take advantage of the numerous Olympic facilities in the area.
Prefer getting out in nature? Lake Placid is nestled in 6.1 million acres of forests and mountains that comprise Adirondack Park. Hiking and running trails abound. For folks who choose, we will run (or walk or hike) 3+ miles every day.
Oh, and did we mention yet the fully stocked swag bags every retreat attendee receives? Yup, pretty sweet.
THE Schedule
We’ll send out the final schedule to attendees about a month prior to the retreat. Rest assured that it will include many of the fun things we have done at previous retreats, including group runs/walks; yoga; expert-led sessions; podcast recording party; karaoke; plus many more ways to connect with other active women and enjoy the lush, natural playground that is Lake Placid. Including a new multi-sport team relay that’ll take advantage of both Mirror Lake and the running trail around it. (The relay is optional.) Above all else, the retreat is an escape from daily life with friends, old and new!
Check out the 2024 Lake Placid retreat schedule to get a sense of how a retreat weekend (and fun!) flows.