Alan stopped dead in his tracks. I nearly ran into him. “What is that?” he whispered. His headlamp was fixed 30 feet up the trail and maybe 10 feet to the right. There, two bright green eyes starred from the brush. We were on the Falls Lake section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail on a seven-mile night hike, and I thought of the two things it could reasonably be: a fox…

We were on a post-sundown training hike for the Ultimate Hike last month when a beam  of bright light began gaining on us from behind. I turned and saw two headlights bearing down on us, still maybe 75 yards down the road. “I’ll do the talking,” I said, since I was the hike leader and since I may have forgotten to mention to my fellow hikers that, technically, we were…

In my previous running life — in my 20s, in the ‘80s — I found myself on two occasions in New Orleans, covering conventions. On both visits it rained, and even though I’m a wimp when it comes to running in wet weather — soggy shoes, chaffing in especially sensitive places, I wear glasses, shall I go on? — I was able to put in my usual five miles thanks…

An hour or so into the hike, the lightbulb went on for Alan. “Now this looks familiar.” The problem up until now? We’d been hiking in the daylight. Alan Nechemias and I had probably hiked this stretch of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along Falls Lake — sections 10 and 9 — a couple dozen times over the past three years. But we could only recall hiking it once in daylight. The…

A run, a hike and a sunset are three of the numerous ways you can get out and explore this weekend. Coast It can be hard to find a foot race once sweltering summer settles in — but it’s not surprising that if there’s a race to be found, it’ll be at the coast. A breeze (hopefully) coming off the water and a flat course help compensate for the heat….

I haven’t counted how many racers from the Triangle were in this past weekend’s Burn 24 Hour Challenge mountain bike race at Dark Mountain near Wilkesboro, but I couldn’t walk from our pit to the start/finish without running into someone from hereabouts. These are a few of the stories I picked up along the way. Chapel Hill’s Steve Rogers may be the most sought-after teammate in the Triangle. He’s a…

In our ongoing crusade to keep you active in these dark times (post Daylight Savings, that is) here’s a different approach: Instead of cursing sunset, go to bed with it — so you can get up in time for your 6 a.m. boot camp. Boot camp. For years, this approach to fitness was exclusive to the military. New recruits went into the service soft and squishy, got spit out six…

Of all the ways to stay active outdoors during the dark days of winter, you’d think walking might be the simplest and safest. What could be easier than bundling up before dinner and taking a brisk half-hour walk around the neighborhood? Alas, you live in North Carolina, a number of other activities. According to a recent report by the advocacy group Transportation for America even walking in broad daylight is…

With the end of Daylight Savings Time on Sunday, GetGoingNC.com is looking at various ways you can keep active during the dark times ahead. For maybe the fifth time in five minutes Alan stopped to comment on the trail. “This is a great trail,” he commented. And for the fifth time in maybe five minutes I reminded him that we had hiked this same trail maybe a half dozen times….

When I saw that Jeff LeBlanc was leading our ride, I knew that whatever he said was going to happen on the ride would be what would happen. Rare in group riding circles and reassuring, especially since this ride was at night, on mountain bikes, through twisty trail in the forest. While I’d done night rides before, this was a first for my 14-year-old stepson. The fewer surprises the better,…