Rootstock Racing NationalS Race Report

Rootstock Racing's Abby Perkiss shares her thoughts on the 2021 USARA National Championship:


Adventure racing is a funny thing.
Some days, everything clicks - you race to your full potential and you have the BEST time.
Some days, the race goes sideways, and the adventure sustains you.
Some days, the performance outmatches the experience and you struggle mentally despite what the results show.
And some days, nothing goes quite right, and you find yourself contemplating early retirement.
In the four races I've done this season, I've had each one of these experiences.
The thing about our sport is that the intensity of the experience amplifies EVERYTHING. The good and the bad. The affirmation and the dejection. The pain and the euphoria. Sometimes all at the same time.
When things in the woods go haywire - when the map isn't matching what you're seeing on the ground, when you're banged up and bee stung, when mechanicals stall your progress, when you're deep in a hole and can't find your way out, when all you want is to be anywhere but here - it can be tough to remember what brought you out in the first place.
Thanks to Brian and Brent for reminding me this weekend that we race because of the commitment we make to each other, to experience this -- all of this -- with each other.
Thanks for helping me remember my "why."