Meet the Founders: Mike & Stormy McGauley
For the McGauleys, accommodating outdoor-lovers with a range of abilities is personal. Their marriage illustrates the scope of that spectrum.“I’ve always wanted to be a wild person!” Mike says when he and Stormy sit down for an interview for Get Out’s “Wild People” department. When it comes to outdoor recreation, Mike calls himself a spectator. However, he calls Stormy a top-level outdoorsperson. Stormy is an avid hiker, hitting a different trail every week with the Chattanooga Hiking Club, and regularly hiking up to 10 miles per trip.“I can keep up with her on level ground, but for both our sakes, we don’t hike together. She doesn’t know the phrase ‘Can we stop and rest a minute?’” Mike jokes. But what Mike lacks in athleticism, he makes up for in community building, having played a part in many of the city’s prominent conservation efforts.For instance, he served on the board of Trust for Public Land where he helped raise $2 million to save Stringer’s Ridge from development. He also served on the board of Tennessee River Gorge Trust, where he developed the idea for “Bargin’ for the Gorge,” a dinner cruise fundraiser aboard a TVA barge. During the event’s nine-year run, it raised over $635,000, helping earn Mike the TRGT’s Adele Hampton Life Achievement Award for Conservation in 2011.“I knew if we could get people into the gorge, raising the money would be easy. It’s the most beautiful place on earth,” Mike says.Indeed, the McGauleys’ city pride runs as deep as the river canyon itself.“If you can pick anywhere in the world to move to, this is the place to be,” says Stormy, who moved to Chattanooga from Texas in 1984. “I am in awe of the mountains,” she says, listing two of her favorite hiking spots as Fiery Gizzard Trail in Tracy City and Laurel-Snow Pocket Wilderness in Dayton.But for Stormy, the purpose of outdoor recreation is not to push her limit. Rather, she says, it is simply to determine a destination and then reach it, whether that means a 10-mile hike to a waterfall or a stroll across Walnut Street Bridge, where the river view is so compelling, it might make a wild person out of anyone.
There was a time not so long ago when standup paddleboards were uncommon on the Tennessee River. But now, "I walk across the bridge every day and I don't think a day passes that I don't see a SUP on the water," says Stormy McGauley, co-founder of RiverRocks, Chattanooga's annual outdoors festival held each October.
In 2010, she and husband Mike McGauley helped conceive and organize the inaugural event to showcase the city's natural resources through 10 days of activities designed for a spectrum of skillsets.
For hardcore athletes there was the Rock/Creek StumpJump, a 50k trail race along the mountainous Cumberland Trail. For greenhorns, there were free classes that introduced new sports - such as standup paddleboarding, which today is considered the fastest-growing watersport in the world, a trend which Chattanooga is now clearly riding.
In addition to outdoor recreation, the early RiverRocks festivals partnered with local restaurants to spotlight healthy food specials. The festival also partnered with eight local land trusts and conservancies, among which half the event's proceeds were divvied. But these two features have since gone to the wayside.
Three years after that first festival, the McGauleys retired from RiverRocks and turned event planning over to its volunteer-based board of directors.
"We created something very special, and very large-scale," Mike says. "Planning takes an unbelievable amount of time, and I think in trying to simplify the process, it got over-simplified."
For the past couple years, RiverRocks' focus has been more on its elite events - like StumpJump, for example, or Lula Lake Five Points 50, a 50-mile ultimate endurance mountain bike race - and less on those broad, non-competitive beginner games.
But this year, RiverRocks is dissolving its board and returning festival planning to Chattanooga Presents, its original producer.
"In the beginning, the idea was for everyone in town to be involved," says Chattanooga Presents Event Producer Ann Ball, who is helping return RiverRocks 2016 to its roots.
This October, the calendar of events once again offers something for everyone: from the ultra-athletes who eat marathoners for breakfast to the rookies who have never even been on a standup paddleboard.
Schedule: Marathons, music and more - here is a look at RiverRocks 2016's schedule of events.
Oct. 1
Rock/Creek Stump Jump 50k
8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Signal Mountain Middle/High
One of the most competitive trail races in the Southeast, this event winds its racers across Signal Mountain and features over 6,000 feet of elevation gain.
Cost: $75 To register visit rockcreek.com/stumpjump.
3 Sisters
Noon to 11 p.m. at Ross's Landing
This daylong music festival helps get RiverRocks attendees in the spirit with dozens of bluegrass bands from far and wide.
Cost: Free
Oct. 2
NEW EVENT! Ready to Rock Climb
5 p.m. at Coolidge Park Climbing Wall
Welcoming beginner climbers age 5 and up, this introductory class teaches the essentials of the sport.
Cost: Free
NEW EVENT! Rock/Creek StumpJump 15k
8 a.m. at Signal Mountain Middle/High School
Back by popular demand, this less intense version of the 50k covers some of the same ground across Signal Mountain, traveling to Edward's Point and Mushroom Rock. That same morning also features a 1.5- to 3-mile kids' race along Shackleford Ridge Park. The event is sponsored by Fast Break Athletics and designed for kids ages 7-12.
Cost: $45 and $10, respectively. To register for either event visit ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=37367.
Oct. 4
NEW EVENT! Pedal & Paddle on the South Chickamauga Creek Trails
5-8 p.m. on South Chick Creek
This family-friendly event includes a leisurely, guided bike tour along the South Chick Connector Greenway Trail followed by a friendly canoe paddle on the South Chick Creek Blueway.
Cost: $20 per person/$10 for children age 12 and under. To register call Outdoor Chattanooga at 423-643-6888.
Oct. 5
NEW EVENT! Snail Darter
5 p.m. at the downtown Chattanooga waterfront
Returning to the lineup, this downstream open water swim includes a 1-mile adult division and a 1/2-mile youth division.
Cost: $15 advance online registration/$20 on-site registration. To register visit cowsswim.com/snail-darter-1-mile-sprint.
Oct. 6
NEW EVENT! Fireside Music Series & Canoe Rental
5 p.m. at Greenway Farms
Complete with a paddle along North Chick Creek beginning at 5 p.m. and an outdoor concert at 7 p.m. along with marshmallow-roasting around a campfire, this new event welcomes the whole family.
Cost: $25 per canoe rental. Register for canoes on-site; first come-first served.
Oct. 8
NEW EVENT! Trailblazer Challenge Training Hike
7 a.m. at Lula Lake Land Trust
Boasting spectacular scenery and mixed terrain, outdoor enthusiasts will love the challenge of this 21-mile hike, the dual purpose of which is also to help grant wishes through Make-a-Wish.
Cost: Free, though fundraising is encouraged. To register visit wishet.convio.net.
Chattanooga Head Race
8 a.m. at Ross's Landing
This spectator-friendly timed 5k event showcases competitive rowing for both beginner and intermediate athletes.
Cost: $30-$90, depending on the size of your team
To register visit chattanoogaheadrace.com.
NEW EVENT! CPR (Climb, Paddle, Run)
8 a.m. in downtown Chattanooga
A triathlon geared for the outdoor adventurer, this timed trial event takes competitors up the outside wall at High Point, down the Tennessee River on SUPs and concludes with a foot race back to the climbing gym.
Cost: $40 To learn more visit riverrockschattanooga.com/cpr.
Swim the Suck
9:30 a.m. at Suck Creek Boat Launch
This internationally renowned race takes competitors on a 10-mile open water swim through the Tennessee River Gorge.
Cost: Sold out
Oct. 9
Urban Nature 10k
8 a.m. at Coolidge Park
One of RiverRocks' most beloved events, this race winds from the bustling North Shore to serene Stringer's Ridge.
Cost: $25 before Oct. 7; $30 day of race. To learn more visit riverrockschattanooga.com/urban-nature-10k.
Oct. 13
Lookout Mountain Challenge
9 a.m. at Downtown Riverwalk
Offering cyclists an elevated challenge, this group ride covers 27 miles and includes a 2,600-foot climb up Lookout Mountain.
Cost: Free. To register call Velo View Bike Tours at 423-834-8388.
Oct. 14
NEW EVENT! Best Town (for)Ever
5:30 p.m. at Cherry Street, 700 block
The celebration of Chattanooga's "Best Town Ever" title continues with this festival offering food, music, adult bevvies and more.
Cost: Free
Oct. 15
NEW EVENT! The Cannonball
8 a.m. at Stringer's Ridge
Not for the faint of heart, this race gives runners one hour to complete a 4-mile loop at Stringer's Ridge. Those who do not finish in one hour are eliminated. Those who do finish go on to run that same loop again. The race continues every hour on the hour until there is only one man or woman standing.
Cost: $80
To register visit ultrasignup.com.
NEW EVENT! Lula Lake Five Points 50
9 a.m. at Lula Lake Land Trust
Chattanooga's ultimate endurance mountain bike event, this 50-mile race features grueling climbs, downhills and rock gardens. New for 2016 is a 25-mile option along those same challenging trails.
Cost: $105 for 50-miler; $95 for 25-miler
To register visit bikereg.com/lula-lake-landtrust-5-points-5025.
NEW EVENT! McLemore Cove Ramble
9 a.m. on the North Shore
This 28-mile bike ride loops through North Georgia, past rural farmlands and over rolling hills, which feature a few moderate climbs.
Cost: Free. To register call Velo View Bike Tours at 423-834-8388.
Oct. 16
7 Bridges Marathon
7 a.m. in Coolidge Park
Providing a pretty tour of downtown, this race takes runners across the river six times while also including distance along the riverfront, Bluff View Arts District and more.
Cost: $100 For more information visit sevenbridgesmarathon.com/7-bridges-marathon.
Oct. 22
NEW EVENT! Trailblaze Challenge
8 a.m. at Lula Lake Land Trust
This 26-mile hiking marathon through Georgia and Tennessee not only tests participants' endurance, it also benefits the East Tennessee Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Cost: Free, though fundraising is encouraged To register visit wishet.convio.net.
ChattaJack 31
8 a.m. at Ross's Landing
RiverRocks' premier water event, this famous race attracts paddlers from across the country, who will travel from downtown Chattanooga to Nickajack Lake.
Cost: Sold out
Triple Crown of Bouldering
8 a.m. at Stone Fort
Hosted at one of the best-known boulder fields in the region, this competition has climbers try their hands along classic splitter lines, each with unique features ranging from tiny crimpers to cool pockets and more.
Cost: $55 To register visit triplecrownbouldering.org.
Oct. 30
Nature Calls
10 a.m. at Lula Lake Land Trust
Offering an easygoing 5k or a more challenging 15k (complete with rope section), this event welcomes runners and hikers alike - in their best Halloween costumes, of course.
Cost: $25 for 15k; $15 for 5k (add $5 for day-of registration). For more information visit wildtrails.org/events-fundraisers/wild-trails-race-series/nature-calls-15k-5k.