Every Wednesday through Thanksgiving, GetGoingNC.com will feature a hike in North Carolina that just about anyone can do. It won’t be a long hike (though we may throw in a recommendation for going long), it won’t be strenuous hike (there could be a hill-climb option as well). The hikes will be timed to coincide with the changing colors of fall. This week, the 2.6-mile out-and-back trail to the top of Hanging Rock, in its namesake state park.
“Race Across the Sky” — the marathoner’s antidote
Of the many cool things in “Race Across the Sky,” a documentary about this summer’s Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race won by Lance Armstrong, one thing in particular sticks out. As Armstrong and the other elite riders in this endurance race reach the turnaround, a dirt cul de sac atop a barren dome, a 12,750-foot summit reached after 7 miles and 3,000 vertical feet of climbing, they must pass the other riders as they head back to the finish in Leadville. Superhuman racers such as Armstrong and six-time LT 100 winner Dave Wiens, about who will both complete the race in under 7 hours, will brush shoulders with folks who will take nearly twice as long to finish, not to mention the 500 or so who will have to abandon. As the two distinct worlds pass one another, words of encouragement are exchanged in both directions.
Monster Dash: A tale of two Joes
“I’m nervous,” I said to Marcy as I stood at the starting line for yesterday’s Monster Dash 5K in Raleigh. It was worth noting since I don’t get nervous before races, at least not before the mountain bike races I’ve been doing the last few years. I couldn’t remember being nervous before a race since … well, since the last time I ran a foot race — in 1985.
Did Phidippedes die in vain?
There’s a curious story on page 1 of today’s News & Observer about long-time marathoners who aren’t happy with the growing number of slower runners in their events. Some of these newbies, say the vets, even have the audacity to walk the 26.2-mile course.
This weekend, go long
This weekend, Triangle residents get to celebrate the region’s two longest trails.
Saturday, the Falls Lake portion of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail gets another 11 miles dedicated, extending the number of miles finished MST along the lake’s south shore to 46. Then, on Sunday the East Coast Greenway is sponsoring a walk/ride on the newest section of the 22-mile American Tobacco Trail to be nearly almost completely open.