How to be the calm in the marathon weekend storm
I speak to Monica DeVreese about Rabbit's Clubhouse series in Chamonix, Chicago, and New York
I’ve written about the unbridled chaos of marathon weekend before. It’s not even been a year since the overwhelming furor of brand popups, shakeout runs, cultural moments and chance meetings led to some claiming that running culture had peaked. These feasts of overstimulation are seemingly here to stay, but what’s the antidote?
I specifically traveled to New York for the marathon at the end of last year to immerse myself in the hubbub. I wasn’t running the race, so I wanted to dunk my shoulders under the surface of the icy pool of marketing activations as hard and fast as possible. I bumped into people on the street who I live continents away from. I ate pizza that was inexplicably connected to carbon-plated shoes. I braved the sideways rain to attend a panel. Then, the day before race day, I took a very necessary day off.
In the midst of the branded events, I noticed On partnering with a new local bathhouse, Lore Bathing Club, and the Four Seasons Hotel launching an ‘infrared recovery experience’ for marathon runners. Maybe the events are just reflecting the state of wellness culture at large, but it felt to me that as the chatter bubbles up toward the lip of the pan, the need for stillness also increases.
Rabbit was another brand that I noticed showing up a little differently in New York. They had a presence at the classy Walker Hotel, centrally located in Tribeca, and their events seemed calmer and more assured than most. It was less about screaming for attention, and more about creating something of worth. When I saw that Rabbit was curating a Clubhouse series for 2026 in Chamonix for UTMB and then for the Chicago and NYC marathons, my interest piqued.
A collaboration with Halo (“A hotel booking platform for athletes, supporters and fans”), the Clubhouses are described as, “a curated race-week hospitality experience designed to support runners from arrival to race to celebrations.” It’s another example of how opportunity is driving running culture into new directions.
Rabbit founder Monica DeVreese expands on this telling me it’s about, “how you’re greeted, how you gather, how you feel nourished. Hopefully – this sounds cliche — it’s like your home away from home, where you feel really comfortable, and you feel like you’re able to take care of yourself in a way that falls in line a little more with your everyday life.”
“I think these [global running] events can be very chaotic, and so it’s more about hosting and welcoming [runners] into this space, just so they can feel like they’re slowing down a little bit.”
The promise is of “premium hotel stays, race-week prep and shakeouts,” along with a gift bag containing limited products, community programming, and post-race recovery.
The central location from the NYC hotel is mirrored in Chamonix, where the Hotel Le Faucigny is a four-minute walk from the finish line, with Chicago’s Arlo hotel a mile from the end of that race. It’s the kind of situation that solves many of my personal issues with running a big city marathon. For me, the distance itself has never been a problem, but after spending months or years training to run a marathon, it’s irritating for the final moments to be difficult. Ignoring all the adjacent events in order to focus on rest is one thing, but having to stay far from the race and sacrificing necessary sleep to commute into the start line is a miserable prospect.
This all fits neatly into the idea of curated marathon tours and adventure holidays. I spoke to Mau Diaz about Aire Libre experiences in 2023, for instance, with companies like Rogue Expeditions doing something similar, but Halo thinks primarily about the hotel portion of the marathon journey.
When I spoke to Monica, I positioned my understanding of the experience as ‘luxury,’ which she immediately repositioned as “hosting” and “hospitality.” Both are true, perhaps, but as someone who cobbles together the cheapest travel possible, any level of hospitality feels like luxury to me. We already know that runners are wealthier-than-average, so it makes sense for a comfortable one-stop-shop for lodging to be available.
Behind the operations side of the Clubhouses is Hilary Fenet. The founder of Halo is a New York-based runner who spends the month in Chamonix every August. It’s the perfect joint endeavor between female-founded companies.
Rabbit is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and shows every sign of growth. The thought that’s gone into building the Clubhouse series means that when Monica says that Rabbit – as a brand – sees runners as athletes but also as humans, it’s that bit more believable, and it all goes back to how the company was founded.
A runner since the age of 13, Monica had experience working in product design for several of the big running brands. After moving to Southern California, she opened Santa Barbara Running Co with her husband, and they soon founded an elite running team in the charming beach city. Jill Deering, a “super-competitive” road runner was on that team, and the two women soon discovered that they shared a problem that they would solve together.
“I was getting really frustrated with the apparel that we could offer in our running shop. This was at the time when we could only buy product from the big footwear brands. The stuff would come in our store and go on sale. It would not sell because it was nothing exciting, the fits were awful.”
Around this time, 2015 or so, Lululemon shorts were the big athletic apparel discovery. Monica recalls how “every woman on the beach pathway was wearing it.”
“Jill was lining up at races in Lulu, and she felt the stuff was cute but didn’t feel like she was identifying herself as a runner.”
When you work hard at a sport, you build an identity, and so it’s natural to want to be kitted out in clothing that reflects your values, not the values of another sport. That identity is split even in the running world.
Are you a road runner or are you a trail runner? The chances are that you call yourself one rather than the other. Me? I run the beautiful trails of Los Angeles, but don’t have the time to run for dozens of hours. I primarily run on roads, though. Whether it’s for 30 minutes or for double figures of miles. I’m just a runner.
Rabbit’s 2026 Clubhouses can be found at the greatest trail race in the world and also at the largest road marathon around. This is how the brand shows up in the running world. While they release special capsules for each major marathon, Rabbit has also been an early supporter of trail races due to Monica having “switched gear to the trails” when she and Jill started the business. Just as Jill deeply understood what road runners needed in a pair of shorts, Monica had direct knowledge of what the trail and ultra world needed from a new apparel company.
A key moment was becoming the official apparel sponsor for the Javelina Jundred in 2018. They used their EZ tee for the official race shirt, and when runners realized that it was – for once – something they’d actually wear again, Rabbit’s reputation rose. Leading with quality led to other trail race directors getting in touch, and their presence in trail increased over and over. This year, their Trail Tour program sees Rabbit involved in 32 races in some way.
Showing up at UTMB then, is a bold statement. Especially when Rabbit has no European distribution to speak of. The goal, as with the rest of the business, is to move carefully, with purpose. With the Rabbit Clubhouse Series, they want to make sure they’re building something for their customers that truly delivers. I agree: that’s hospitality.
What race-day problem would you love to solve? What type of runner are you? Do you have a race lined up or do you run for fun? What’s your favorite bathhouse?? Tell me in a comment!
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Monica is a legend and what they've built at Rabbit is incredible. Their success is flying far below the radar.
Hilary and Halo are also a success story. I chatted with her about a year ago as Halo was launching. It's incredible see how far she's come in such a short time.
https://amatterofbrand.substack.com/p/guest-pace-hilary-fenet-from-halo?r=3a0aix&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web×tamp=39.1
I identify with the idea of paying for quality race gear that will actually be used more than once. I’ve done the Burning River 100 relay and they did a Patagonia shirt a few years ago. Worth it.