Meet Team member Rob Gantz

Rob hails from Hershey, PA and lives with his wife and two young children. This is his first year with us on Team Run 2 Empower and he's excited to be running his first 100 miler at Vermont!!  Let's get to know him better and welcome him to the team!

Rob at his recent 50 miler!

So...what's your story?
I was in the Air Force for 11 years and now enjoy being a first grade teacher.  This is my 3rd year teaching first grade and I absolutely love it.  My wife and I have been married for five years and we have two wonderful kids, Sebastian who is four, and Sophia who is 2 1/2.  In April, we welcomed our first family pet, a Golden Doodle, named Nittany, because we are big Penn State fans.  We are avid campers, as we bought a Minnie Winnebago in 2018.  We took it over 2000 miles last year, including to VT100!  We love watching European Football and are big supporters of Chelsea Football Club from London.

Tell us about your earliest running memory....
I have been running since April 2010.  I remember it vividly.  I was new in Little Rock, Arkansas for the Air Force Training and I was looking for something to do.  My buddy asked me if I wanted to run a 10k with him and I scoffed at him.  I had never run in my life and running for fun sounded terrible.  I was single at the time, and he told me that there would probably be a lot of girls there, so naturally I went.  Standing at the starting line, my iPod died and I thought, UGHHHHH, this is going to be awful.  I decided I needed to get this over with as quick as possible.  So I ran as fast as I could for as long as I could.  I ended up finishing 3rd in my age group, which I was pretty stoked about.  I ran a 5k the following weekend and got 3rd overall.  I was instantly hooked and have been running ever since.  I have just gotten longer and crazier with the runs as I've aged.

What motivates you to fundraise for Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports?  Any connections to adaptive sports programs or athletes?
I don't have any connections to adaptive sports programs or athletes, but I saw firsthand at VT100 2019 how important the adaptive sports program can be and how inspiring it is to the other athletes.  

What are your goals for Vermont 100?
My first goal is to raise $3000 and finish the race.  I would love to finish in under 24 hours.  I also want to meet some great people along the way, as I met a lot of awesome people volunteering and pacing last year.

If you could pick a Hollywood Actor to play you in a movie? Who would it be and why?
I would have to go with the guy who plays Gary in "A Million Little Things" (James Roday) This was from my wife as she says, I always put other people before myself.  I try to "fix" everything or have a solution, and take it personally when I can't.  This is very fitting as Gary's best friend committed suicide in the show and I lost my Dad the same way in August of 2018.

Thanks Rob for sharing a bit about you! Thank you for your service to our country.  Our heart goes out to you about your Dad.   Gary from "A Million Little Things" is the kindest man, so it's beautiful for your wife to point that out to you.... Thank you for fundraising for Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports and for being part of the team! We wish you the best journey in your training and can't wait to see you at the starting line of the VT100!! You're gonna crush it!