Run the Alps Chamonix Writers Residency Contest

_{Top photo: Kim Strom}

Want to win a trip to trail run and write for a week in Chamonix, France? 

Now’s your chance!

Run the Alps, in partnership with Like the Wind magazine, is kicking off our first Alps trail running writers contest. 

Have you written a story about trail running or about traveling in the Alps? We want to read it! 

The winner and runners-up will be published on our Run the Alps blog and shared to 45,000 followers on social media and in our newsletter. And the winner will be published in Like the Wind magazine!

Why the contest?

Run the Alps wants to provide a platform for new and emerging writers to help amplify their voices to a broader audience. 

One winner will get to travel to Run the Alps’ home in Chamonix, France to experience the trails and the scene, so they can create their next story. 

Details

1 winner receives

• Round trip flight to Geneva, Switzerland and transport to and from Chamonix, France and 1 week (7 days/6 nights) housing in Chamonix, France on dates mutually agreeable with winner and Run the Alps
• $500 payment for creating a new story stemming from the Chamonix experience
• Winner’s submitted story and the new story published on Run the Alps blog
• Winning essay or residency created story published in Like the Wind print magazine!

Runners-up

• Selected runners-up will be published on Run the Alps blog
• $200 honorarium for each published piece

Winner and runners-up 

• Will be asked to provide a 2-3 sentence bio and headshot
• Will need to sign a Run the Alps Freelancer Agreement, which states that the work you submit is yours and yours alone, and that Run the Alps owns the digital right for excerpted use in other ways we might deem appropriate, such as elsewhere on the web site and on our social media platforms (further details available upon request)
• Will need to agree to Run the Alps Chamonix Writers Residency Contest Terms and Conditions at bottom of page (see The Fine Print)

Apply

To apply for Run the Alps’ Chamonix Writer’s Residency 2026, send an email to writers@runthealps.com with the information requested below.

Deadline for submissions: March 31, 2026 

Winner will be notified by April 10, 2026

Please include the following items in your email submission for our Chamonix Writer’s Residency:

1. Name
2. Email
3. Phone number
4. Mailing address
5. Your story:

• Up to 1200 words (in English) with connection to trail running/travel, in the Alps
  • Unpublished piece with the potential to appear on Run the Alps blog
  • Stories posted on personal blogs or substacks are ok
• Send your online submissions as a PDF or Microsoft Word document
• Do not insert photographs or other graphics in the document

All submissions will be reviewed by a team of 3 writers:

• Zoë Rom – Ultra Signup Producer and Podcast Host 
• Simon Freeman, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief or Alex Roddie, Editor – Like the Wind magazine
• Kim Strom – Run the Alps Content Producer

The Fine Print

Run the Alps Chamonix Writers Residency Contest Terms and Conditions

• The contest is open to writers globally, but applicants must have valid travel documents (passport/visa) required to enter Switzerland and France.
• Staff, contractors, and immediate family members of Run the Alps, Ultrasignup and Like the Wind magazine are ineligible. 
• The Prize may not be substituted or transferred. 
• Other expenses eg. meals, travel insurance, visa fees, etc are at the winner’s expense.
• The winner will be bound by Run the Alps’ standard terms and conditions.
• Run the Alps is not liable for any taxes that might be incurred on the part of the winner. 
• We recommend the winner add travel insurance at their cost, in the event they cannot make the trip for any reason. Run the Alps is not responsible if the winner agrees to accept the trip, then cannot travel, for any reason. 
• Winner agrees to allow use of photos of himself or herself by Run the Alps/Like the Wind, plus publication of his or her name and hometown, online and in print by Run the Alps / Like the Wind, and anywhere else that may choose to promote or write about the Run the Alps Writers Contest.
• The writer retains all copyright and ownership of their story and grants to Run the Alps / Like the Wind a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual license to use, reproduce, display, and distribute the writing and excerpts.
• Run the Alps reserves the right to cancel or modify the contest if circumstances beyond their control (e.g., travel restrictions, reasons of force majeure) make the residency impossible to fulfill.

We look forward to telling stories together and sharing our experiences from the trails!