Since 2010, the RiverRocks festival has showcased Chattanooga’s outdoors and adventure sports scene and brought Chattanooga national attention by promoting a full schedule of high-profile adventure sports competitions during October.
Now in 2016, the desire to make RiverRocks more inclusive for the everyday athlete has brought it back to the management and ownership of professional event producers Chattanooga Presents, who produced the festival during its first three years.
The dates for RiverRocks 2016 will be October 1-15.
RiverRocks had its beginnings in 2010, when founders Mike and Stormy McGauley hired Chattanooga Presents to produce the inaugural festival, which included over 100 events in a two-week period. Over the course of the next three years, RiverRocks grew in recognition as it highlighted Chattanooga’s adventure sport competitions, created entertainment events for families, and featured smaller events that encouraged locals to get out and get active. When the McGauleys retired from heading up RiverRocks in 2013, the coordination of the festival fell to the volunteer advisory board, which changed the course for RiverRocks to focus exclusively on the extreme adventure competitions for elite athletes.
Max Poppel, chair of the RiverRocks advisory board, said, “After months of debate and deliberation, the RiverRocks board of directors announces the transfer of management of the RiverRocks festival to Chattanooga Presents, the original team that kicked off the festival seven years ago. The board is confident Carla Pritchard and her team will continue to grow the festival’s impact.”
Mike and Stormy McGauley are also re-engaged to a lesser extent, offering advocacy and visionary support.
The RiverRocks profile for 2016 still includes the world-class sports competitions, but will sharpen its focus on the everyday athlete and activities that demonstrate how locals and families can participate in RiverRocks. The 2016 schedule will encompass an array of adventure competitions such as Swim the Suck (a ten-mile swim through the Tennessee River Gorge), the Chattanooga Head Race, the StumpJump 50K Trail Race, the ChattaJack 31 (a paddleboard and kyak race), and the Triple Crown of Bouldering. New events for a broader market will be added this year, including The CPR (a climbing, paddling, and running triathlon), the Cannonball Run (a last man and woman standing competition), Nature Calls (a 5K and 15K trail race), a Snail Darter Swim that includes a division for kids, a campout event, a Best Town Ever celebration, and a schedule of hikes within 25 miles of downtown.
More at www.riverrockschattanooga.com.
Source: RiverRocks 2016