Raleigh has again been deemed the best place in America to live, this time by BusinessWeek.com. The reasons are several — good public schools, the universities, diverse cultural institutions, lots of bars and restaurants, low crime, strong (relatively) economy. Near the top of the list, great parks.
Diane Van Deren : An ultra athlete’s ultimate challenge
Diane Van Deren has climbed the highest peak in South America, Argentina’s 22,834-foot Aconcagua. She’s run a who’s who of endurance racing’s top events, including Colorado’s Leadville 100 and Hardrock 100, the latter, with 33,000 feet of total climbing, considered by many to be the hardest 100 miler around (she’s done that one six times). In 2008 she won the 300-mile version of the Yukon Arctic Ultra 300, vowed at the finish she was done with racing in temperatures of 50 below zero, then won the 430-mile version of the same race the following year. Before that she played five years on the women’s pro tennis tour with the likes of Chris Everett, Martina Navratilova and Tracy Austin.
Weekend plans: By land, water, air
This weekend: Go fly a kite (or watch someone who really knows how), paddle through 2,000-year-old trees, take a hike on top of the state.
Coast
This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, it’s the Kitty Hawk Kites Annual Outer Banks Stunt Kite Competition. This is competitive kite flying at its best, on the Eastern League Circuit (were you aware there was an Eastern League Circuit for sport kite flying?) and sanctioned by the American Kiting Association (ditto?). While the spectating promises to be swell, amateur kite flyers can get in on workshops, demonstrations and kite making for kids. Stuff to watch for: kite ballet competitions set to music and fast-paced team flying that blend a both kite control and speed.
The Ultimate day on the trail
Question: How many miles would 42 hikers have to walk in one day to raise $145,000?
Answer: 1,188.6.
Impossible, you say? Many of those 42 hikers might have agreed with you last summer. But by 6:55 p.m. Saturday evening, all 42 were believers— all having hiked 28.3 miles as part of the Ultimate Hike.
90 Second Escape: A Goodbye to Summer
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Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease this trying transition, we’re running a new feature every Monday called 90 Second Escape. Essentially, it’s a 90-second video of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s in the sun.