We run for various reasons. Over the next few days, we’ll run for Boston.
Memorial runs in support of the victims of Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon — a phrase that is still incomprehensible to read or hear — are springing up all over the country. Here are the runs we know about in North Carolina:
Try your hand at canoeing at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park, walk or run or bike to support a state park in Raleigh, or learn to ride a bike in the mountains.
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We’re always on the lookout for a good, economical paddle adventure; this weekend our looking out has landed us at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park south of Goldsboro, where a ranger will lead an Introduction to Canoeing class on Sunday. The course includes boat, lifejacket, paddles and instruction, and will be conducted on the friendly waters of the park’s 11-acre, spring-fed lake. An especially great opportunity if you’ve never been in a canoe, but have given it some thought.
When I started running in the late 1970s, I would find a shoe, run it into the ground in six months, head back to my local Phidippides to buy another pair — and discover the manufacturer either no longer made that shoe or had drastically altered it to the point that a shoe that recently fit a short, wide foot now only accommodated a sleek Cinderella. It would take me three or four more six-month cycles to find another Mr. Right Fit — and six months later that shoe was likewise gone. I still remember the sales guy trying to console me after breaking the news that my beloved Saucony Jazz had changed and was no longer right for me.
A biathlon with running and standup paddleboarding, a half marathon on a NASCAR track, a hike in the snow — can a weekend get more North Carolina than that?
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Running and standup paddleboarding — that’s a combination you don’t often see under the biathlon umbrella. But you will Saturday at Wrightsville Beach for the 4th Annual Wrightsville Beach Biathlon. Four miles of standup paddleboarding on a flatwater course followed by a 4-mile beach run, all in the hopes of scoring “the soon-to-be-coveted Masonboro Trophy.”
Spring race season is in full swing across North Carolina while the paddling season is just getting underway. Weatherwise, we’re looking at pretty good weather for both.
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Distance runners, sprinters, fun runners — Saturday’s 4th Annual Quintiles Wrightsville Beach Marathon has ‘em all covered: full and half marathons, marathon relay, 5K, 1-mile fun run for kids. Racing starts on Wrightsville Beach, then, depending how far you’re going, heads into the nearby The Landfall Community (perhaps you’ve seen the walls and gates surrounding it on the drive to Wrightsville Beach).