Our spate of great fall weekend weather continues. Amid a full lineup of ways to enjoy it, here’s what we are especially drawn to. Coast Make of this what you will: I go for a 5-mile run, my step-counter-dealiebob gives me credit for maybe 8,000 steps. I spend the day working in the yard, I hit my daily goal of 15,000 steps by noon. Which is to say, good aerobic…

Another gorgeous fall weekend is on tap, one good for a night hike, a fun run or a mountain road ride with the best in the cycling business. Coast As daylight continues to dwindle, so, we assume, do our opportunities for outdoor adventure, especially during the work week. But did you know that not all of the natural world goes to sleep when the sun goes down? In fact, for some, sunset…

Labor Day has come and gone, the summer with it. Now, we get down to the serious business of fall fun in North Carolina! Coast | Coastal Plain There’s something romantic about an open-water swim in the ocean: riding the swells, being buoyed by the salt water, sharing space with all manner of aquatic life. Yup, it’s romantic, all right. Until you’ve done it and realize what an incredible challenge…

There’s a run for everyone this weekend in North Carolina: for the novice, the mountain distance runner, the hash harrier — even the runner who doesn’t like to run. Coast | Coastal Plain Since the advent of hashing in the ’90s (yes, the concept originated with bored British offers and expats in Kuala Lumpur in the late 1930s),  we’ve been intrigued by how it works to mix running with beer….

Excuses to get moving can be easy to dream up. But this weekend? No excuses. Coast / Coastal Plain If you’ve vowed to do at least one race this summer and have procrastinated, you have no excuse not to do Sunday’s Summer Sizzler at Wilmington’s Greenfield Lake. A 10K? you whine. That’s too far in this summer heat. There’s also a 5K. My hip flexor has been acting up. I…

We’ve got another hot summer weekend on tap. Some options: spend it on a barrier island checking out the horse scene; take a run through the cool(er) night; paddle a mountain river. Coast / coastal plain One of the reasons you love to head into the wild is the opportunity to see wildlife. For a lot of us, the bigger the wildlife the better. Swimmers at the coast love the…

So much adventure to be had this Fourth of July weekend! Good thing you have three days to fit it in! Coast and coastal plain One of the best adventure deals going: Merchant Millpond State Park’s periodic Canoe The Pond program. Join a ranger on a canoe trip on this 760-acre millpond that dates to the early 1700s. Paddle amid the bald cypress and tupelo gum that have since infiltrated…

Father’s Day is Sunday. A thought or three on how to appropriately celebrate this weekend. Coast Perhaps you’re conflicted about what to do with Dad this weekend. On the one hand, he likes a good challenge. On the other, he likes to kick back and relax. What to do, what to do? What to do, is sate both sides of Dad by entering him in Saturday’s Good Hops 5K Beer…

A mellow organized ride in Wilmington shuns the hammerhead drama of most such events; if you’re late for Sunday’s hike at Pilot Mountain, no problem — another will come along; and if there was ever a good reason to run a 5K, what could be better than a falafel-bearing t-shirt? Coast The casual cyclist looks at most organized rides and thinks: Looks like fun — if I could ride 64…

Cliffs of the Neuse State Park celebrates the frog, Haw River State Park celebrates wild flowers, and Asheville celebrates the fleet of foot with a trail run. It all happens Saturday, your last chance to celebrate April. By Emily Reeves, intern Coast: Save the Frogs April 30 — Saturday — is International Save the Frogs Day; Cliffs of The Neuse State Park near Goldsboro promises a hopping good celebration in…