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Imagine you’re in the woods with two or three friends. It’s 3 a.m. and you’ve been awake for 36 hours walking, biking, and rowing. All you have to guide you is a map and compass.

For some people, this may sound like their worst nightmare. For Abigail Perkiss ’03, this is adventure racing, and it’s not just her hobby, not just her second job, but her lifestyle.

Adventure racing involves mixed-gender teams of three to four people finding their way—without GPS—along an unmarked course by foot, bicycle, and canoe or kayak. Some races are a few hours, some up to 10 days.

Perkiss’ husband, Brent Freedland, a fan of the 1990s TV show Eco Challenge, took up the sport in 2006 and convinced Perkiss, a marathon runner, to join him. They formed their own team, Rootstock Racing, in 2015 and won the national championships in 2017 and 2018.

The sport has taken them to Iceland, Costa Rica, Tasmania, the United Kingdom, and across the United States. Last year, while Perkiss, a history professor, was on sabbatical, they took their kids Zoe, 11, and Simon, 5, on a seven-month backpacking trip that ended in Namibia, where they did a race with friends.

“Our kids have grown up like mascots of the sport,” Perkiss says. Next, they are hosting the Endless Mountains Adventure Race in Vermont this summer, and Perkiss’ husband is shifting into running races full time.

The sport requires resilience, and Perkiss says the biggest challenges are mental and emotional. But it’s worth it.

“I just did this race in Tasmania, and we had one night when we were paddling across this glassy lake,” she says. “We looked up and the Milky Way was on full display. Those are the moments where you just pause, look up and see the stars, and take it in.”