Race Directors
When you do a Rootstock race, you can tell they've really explored the area. They've found the coolest terrain and features and are going to send you there.
-Mason Holland, Team NH Trail Vets
Abby and Brent's path into adventure racing started not on a bike or in a boat, but as it did for so many: on a couch, in front of a TV in the 1990s. It was then that Brent discovered the iconic expedition race, Eco-Challenge. Even as he was enthralled by the stories, the competition, and the team dynamics, he never thought a race so spectacular and grueling would be possible for him.
Nearly a decade later, he dipped his toe into the world of adventure racing, signing up for his first six-hour race. Following a mid-pack finish there, he tried a twelve-hour event, then a twenty-four, and by the end of his second year of racing, he was signed up for and finishing his first United States Adventure Racing Association National Championship.
It was then that Abby decided to wade in. When Brent called home from the Nationals finish line that year, she convinced him that they should sign up together for a six-hour sprint the following weekend. But whereas Brent had come to the sport with a fair bit of outdoor adventure-sports experience, Abby arrived by way of competitive swimming and marathoning. Despite the (relatively steep) learning curve, she quickly fell in love with the incomparable family-like community that distinguishes adventure racing from so many other sports. She was hooked.
Fifteen years later, Abby and Brent have participated in hundreds of events, ranging from local sprints to multi-day expeditions on the Adventure Racing World Series (ARWS) circuit. After racing and directing events for the GOALS Adventure Racing Association, they formed Rootstock Racing in 2015. Since then, they have designed several events each year and built an internationally-known race team, winners of two mixed-gender USARA National Championships and one all-female National Championship. More than success in the standings, Abby and Brent take pride in the team's chemistry and in their efforts to give back to the broader AR community through various initiatives, including their work as board members of USARA.
As an organization, Rootstock aims to challenge the best navigators and the strongest athletes, while also making their races accessible to those who are not as savvy with the maps, not as experienced in the outdoors, and not as fit as the teams gunning for the podium. Regardless of your ability level and time for training, Abby and Brent strive to offer you a journey that suits your abilities, one that incorporates the history of the land on which you're traveling and brings you to unique and little-known sites that you would rarely encounter outside of an adventure race.
Thank you for being part of our journey. For those who come back to our races time after time, we can't wait to see you again. For those new to the Rootstock family, welcome!
We'll see you in the woods!
Nearly a decade later, he dipped his toe into the world of adventure racing, signing up for his first six-hour race. Following a mid-pack finish there, he tried a twelve-hour event, then a twenty-four, and by the end of his second year of racing, he was signed up for and finishing his first United States Adventure Racing Association National Championship.
It was then that Abby decided to wade in. When Brent called home from the Nationals finish line that year, she convinced him that they should sign up together for a six-hour sprint the following weekend. But whereas Brent had come to the sport with a fair bit of outdoor adventure-sports experience, Abby arrived by way of competitive swimming and marathoning. Despite the (relatively steep) learning curve, she quickly fell in love with the incomparable family-like community that distinguishes adventure racing from so many other sports. She was hooked.
Fifteen years later, Abby and Brent have participated in hundreds of events, ranging from local sprints to multi-day expeditions on the Adventure Racing World Series (ARWS) circuit. After racing and directing events for the GOALS Adventure Racing Association, they formed Rootstock Racing in 2015. Since then, they have designed several events each year and built an internationally-known race team, winners of two mixed-gender USARA National Championships and one all-female National Championship. More than success in the standings, Abby and Brent take pride in the team's chemistry and in their efforts to give back to the broader AR community through various initiatives, including their work as board members of USARA.
As an organization, Rootstock aims to challenge the best navigators and the strongest athletes, while also making their races accessible to those who are not as savvy with the maps, not as experienced in the outdoors, and not as fit as the teams gunning for the podium. Regardless of your ability level and time for training, Abby and Brent strive to offer you a journey that suits your abilities, one that incorporates the history of the land on which you're traveling and brings you to unique and little-known sites that you would rarely encounter outside of an adventure race.
Thank you for being part of our journey. For those who come back to our races time after time, we can't wait to see you again. For those new to the Rootstock family, welcome!
We'll see you in the woods!