It’s Labor Day weekend, and thus you are obligated to play. Some thoughts on the subject … .

Coast

Earl permitting, there’s good reason to head to Wilmington this weekend: the March of Dimes 5K Run for Healthier Babies. I mean, who wouldn’t run 3.1 miles for a healthy, happy baby? Or walk a mile? Or sleep walk?

Sleep walk? Do tell.

Apparently that’s the category for folks who like the idea of walking for healthy babies but don’t like the idea of doing it at 8 a.m. on a Saturday, especially a three-day-weekend Saturday. Another ingenious invention of the 5KRHB: the Family Team Sponsorship category, which gets you four entries in the 5K and race T-shirts with your family name on the back! $30 for the 5K, $10 for the mile, $25 to Sleep Walk, $195 for the Family Team. Registration begins at 7 a.m. at race central, the TrySports store in the Mayfaire Town Center, 925 Town Center Dr. in Wilmington.

More info by calling 910.452.1515 or paying a visit here.

Piedmont

If I didn’t have a previous commitment, I’d probably head up to the Smith River for the Dan River Basin Association-led Smith River Float on Saturday. This is a mellow 3.5-mile paddle on what’s called “the most popular section of the Smith River — Marrowbone Creek Access to Mitchell Bridge.” (Technically this is just across the state line, in Virginia, but who are we to let geopolitical boundaries get in the way of a good time?) The stretch includes some easy Class I water, deemed “suitable for novice paddlers.” (For a good description of the trip, go here, then come back.) Put-in is at 10 a.m., at the Richard P. Gravely, Jr. Nature Preserve, 2525 Eggleston Falls Road in Ridgeway, Va. (or for those of you GPS-enabled, 36.611067, -79.817712). You’ll need your own boat; if you need to rent one, go here and scroll down to “Outfitters and Campgrounds”.

More info here.

Mountains

You’d think that the traditional way to celebrate Labor Day weekend in the mountains is by running, what with all the road races scheduled.  There’s the Fireman’s Day 5K in Bryson City, the inaugural Blue Planet Run 5K for Clean Water in Franklin, and in Henderson, the Apple Festival 5K. The latter is a 4.9-mile road race held in conjunction with the N.C. Apple Festival, one of the state’s longest-running fairs celebrating our mountain-grown apples. (Did you know that North Carolina is the nation’s seventh largest apple producing state, and that 65 percent of all Tarheel apples are grown in Henderson County?) Do the race at 8 a.m. on Saturday, then hang out and celebrate the only known fruit that purports to, if eaten daily, ward off the advances of an MD. Race day registration is $35 and begins at 6:30 a.m. at race central, Pardee Hospital.

More race info here.

GGNC’s weekend plans … I and about 20,000 other runners are heading to Virginia Beach for Sunday morning’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon. My decrepit iPhone permitting, I’ll be Tweeting live beginning about 5 a.m. Follow the action at JoeAGoGo.

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Those are GGNC’s thoughts for an active weekend. Find out other ways you can get out this weekend by browsing our super calendar, a collection of events calendars from throughout the state, below.

Looking for a North Carolina adventure this weekend? Here’s a comprehensive rundown of regional and statewide calendars covering a range of active, mostly outdoors programs, from educational nature hikes to mellow paddle trips to challenging bike rides. Calendars identified as “Comprehensive” include non adventure-related events; some sifting may be required.

Know of a good outdoors calendar we should include? Pass it along and we’ll plug it in.

Coast

CapeFearCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar for the Cape Fear/Wilmington/southern N.C. coast searchable by date and event name.

Coastal Guide
Comprehensive calendar including nature programs from a variety of costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs. Covers the entire coast.

Crystal Cost Tourism Authority
Comprehensive calendar focusing on the Crystal Coast. Good source for programs offered by N.C. Coastal Federation, Cape Lookout National Park, N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve and other costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs.

NCCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar including programs for the Outer Banks and Crystal Coast.

North Carolina Coast Host
Comprehensive calendar for the entire coast that lets you search for events by day, by region, by county, by city or by event (based on key word).

This Week Magazine
Primary focus is the Crystal Coast (North Carolina’s coastal midsection).

Mountains

Asheville Citizen-Times
From the main page, click on “Outdoors,” then WNC Outdoors calendar.

Blue Ridge Outdoors
Searchable calendar lets you extend your reach to events throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast (or you can just limit it to North Carolina). Also lets you search a boatload of categories, ranging from Hiking, Mountain Biking and Climbing to Trail Running, Triathlon and Road Walking.

The Mountain Times
From the main page, click on “Calendars,” then Main Events.

Piedmont

Charlotte

Charlotte Observer events calendar
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including Nature, Recreation, Recreation & Wellness, Running

Charlotte Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triad

GoTriad.com
Comprehensive calendar includes a Sports & Recreation category.

Piedmont Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triangle

Triangle.com
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including: Birding, Boating, Cycling, Nature, Rec & Wellness, Recreation, Running, Swimming, Tennis, Yoga.

Carolina Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Statewide

Office of Environmental Education
One calendar for the numerous Environmental Education Centers statewide.

North Carolina State Parks
Lets you search for programs at the state’s parks, recreation areas and natural areas by location, by month, by topic. To reach the calendar from the home page, click on “Education,” then “Fun & Free Programs at Parks.”

National Forests in North Carolina
From the home page, click on Carolina Connections for news updates on the state’s four national forests as well as hints on recreational opportunities and a detailed rundown of recreation areas and the amenities at each.