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A lot goes into designing, planning Adventure Race course

By Jon Gerardi 6 min read

Rootstock Racing founders Brent Freedland and Abby Perkiss are familiar with central Pennsylvania, specifically Lycoming and Tioga counties, over the last few years. They know some of the landmarks in terms of nature and scenic spots

Over the years, they've taken trips here and there and have a scenic scrapbook in their heads.

But the married couple didn't just think about those spots in terms of great places to see and relax at. Rather, they thought about how to incorporate everything into a race. More specifically, a five-day, 120-hour Adventure Race that would encompass everything from hiking to biking and paddling along waterways.

"It really was like this was the spot we spent Thanksgiving, this is where we went for Christmas, and really curated that area. And as that came together, we started to imagine almost a four-quadrant course. It's not quite that delineated, but how to highlight the different sections of the wilds, and we have gotten to know Williamsport and have gotten to know Lycoming County and up into Tioga County pretty well," Perkiss said. "We directed a race in 2021 out of Morris, that was along the Pine Creek. We just knew that it would be an area that would be kind of perfectly suited as the spine of the race."

A small picture ends up then developing into a vision of what the duo wants for the race.

"We start with that big picture: this is the journey and these are the highlight reels. Oh there's the hang gliding launch, that'd be cool place to paddle by. Or there's Hammersley Wilds or the Blue Run Rocks and then once you have those landmarks, it's kind of how do we pull them all together?" Perkiss said.

And pulling all of them together into a race that goes by each landmark is perhaps easier said than done, especially for the Endless Mountains Adventure Race.

Designing a small course is one thing, but a course of the magnitude of the 2023 Endless Mountains Adventure Race is one that involves numerous townships, municipalities, state parks and agencies such as the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

The genesis of the Adventure Race could be traced back to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Freedland and Perkiss directed numerous races since 2010, from a six-hour race to a 24-hour one in eastern Pennsylvania. But it was in 2020 where they thought about the idea of a multi-day race.

"We started to further explore a little west and we started to get to learn about Elk County and Clarion and Cook Forest," Perkiss said. "We talked about the idea of a multi-day race a lot and it was those family trips that really set the stage for us to design last year's course."

The beauty of the Endless Mountains Adventure Race is that it not only varies each time, but the location is different, allowing those who participate in more than one race to witness different views and scenic spots. Last year's Adventure Race went through Punxsutawney and Punxsutawney Phil greeted runners at the beginning of the race.

This year's race -- which began Monday and runs through Saturday -- takes competitors through Wellsboro, Mansfield, Renovo, Lock Haven and Williamsport as they race through Lycoming and Tioga counties. Part of that race also includes a 30-mile paddle on the Susquehanna River.

From last June through March, Freedland and Perkiss started laying out the map for what would become the 2023 race, including on-the-ground exploring and figuring out where stages should go.

The initial design and the finished product don't always line up as the couple would hope, however. After all, permits and access don't always get granted by agencies or townships.

"We have our wish-list course and then we get into the nitty-gritty of working with land managers and permitting agencies and overall we had an incredible experience with land managers in PA," Perkiss said. "We have a really good relationship with the state forest and lot of community parks. State parks have been really open to working with us."

Perkiss noted that they also take three to four weeks on the ground scouting out locations and possible routes for the race over the course of several months before calling townships and working with various permitting agencies.

The organization doesn't work much with the game lands due to their nature of being different than a recreational state park, Perkiss said, but that they've had positive experiences with just about every agency or land manager they've worked with.

"Even in instances where it's been a little bit more challenging, we've been able to come to a compromise agreement on 'this is OK during this time of the day, but not that time of the day,'" Perkiss said.

An example of one of those compromises is one of the final stages where the agency told Adventure Racing that no competitor could be on the trail at night. Because of that, Adventure Racing had to modify its course by allowing runners to enter if they make it by 8:15 p.m., but otherwise have to take a detour so to speak around the area.

It throws curveballs for Freedland and Perkiss when designing the course, but also allows for it to be interesting at the same time.

"I would say that Pennsylvania has been a state that has been really welcoming to Adventure Racing and exciting about showcasing for what I think for a lot of people is an unknown playground," Perkiss said. "People don't think of PA as a destination and one of things — I've lived in Philly my whole life — one of things over the last few years that I've enjoyed finding is just the incredible recreational space here."

The 2023 Endless Mountain Adventure Race consists of eight stages. The race begins with Stage A in Tioga Hammond Lakes and Crooked Creek before Stage B takes competitors to Tioga County and its state forests where they have to compete with four top-roping portions where ascends can reach 50 feet.

Stage C is the Pine Creek Gorge, Stage D is the Cedar Run Valley, Stage E is Hammersley Wild Area and Stage F is the Whiskey Springs ATV Trail. Stage G is a 30-mile paddle down the West Branch of the Susquehanna River before Stage H takes runners to the Water Authorities and Loganton Valley.

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