Coast

Looking for a fast race to get your season off to an encouraging start? Check out the 2nd Annual Brunswick Forest 15K/5K Sunday down Wilmington way,

Specifically, the 5K and 15K courses are in the Brunswick Forest neighborhood. Racing by gender and age category for more serious runners, or show up looking like Ludwig and perhaps win a prize. Food, adult beverages and more afterward. Proceeds benefit the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra.

Logistics: Sunday, Jan. 25, 9 a.m., Brunswick Forest. $35 for the 5k, $50 for 15K. More info here.

Sunday forecast: Sunny and 57.

Piedmont

One of our favorite learnin’ hikes is the periodic Geology Hike at Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area in Hillsborough.

Occoneechee Mountain, at 867 feet, is the highest point in the Triangle and because it was quarried years ago, it’s geologic past is exposed. A geologist leads this hike and helps you decipher the mountain’s really, really long past.

Logistics: Saturday, Jan. 24, 2 p.m., Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area, Hillsborough. 919.383.1686 for more information.

Saturday forecast: 46 degrees with a goodly chance of rain early in the day.

Mountains

If you’re into mountain bike racing, if you’re into mountain bike racing at night, if you’re into both cross-country and downhill racing, boy are you in luck this weekend.

Saturday is the Icycle mountain bike extravaganza at Fontana Village. Cross-country racing by day, a downhill race that night. All in the rugged Smokies around Fontana dam. And if you could possibly ask for more, check out the forecast below. Too many additional details to list here; if you’re interested, read on.

Logistics: Icycle mountain bike races, Saturday, Jan. 24, 11 a.m. Fontana Village Resort. $30 for one race, $50 for both. More info here.

Saturday forecast: High of 42, snow.

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Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

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The post This weekend: Run, ride, learn appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

If your competitive urges are coloring your outdoor urges, head to the coast. But if you’ve got an urge for more color, you can find it in the Piedmont and even in the mountains.

Coast

You love to run, you love to bike — alas, you’re a sinker. No triathlon for you. But you can participate in a duathlon, which taps into your two loves. And you can tap into one Saturday in Wrightsville Beach.

The Wrightsville Beach Biathlon consists of a four laps on a 6.32-mile course “on soft and hard sand,” followed by a 3.2-mile run to the south end of the island and back. A civil way to break into the duathlon world.

Logistics: Saturday, Nov. 15, 9 a.m., Blockade Runner Resort, Wrightsville Beach. $35/$45. More info: 910.256.2251, brittany.burdine@blockade-runner.com

Saturday forecast: High of 51, sunny.

Piedmont

Two weeks ago, we thought the fall color was peaking in the Piedmont. It hung on long enough to make us pretty certain it was peaking last weekend. Well, as of Wednesday it’s still going strong, which, coupled with the immediate forecast for sunny days and cold nights makes us now predict that color will be near peak — perhaps just past — this weekend.

All the more reason to take part in Saturday’s Yadkin River Fall Foliage Hike at Morrow Mountain State Park. On this 2.4-mile hike you’ll not only see color, but you’ll learn who’s flashing which colors. Wear hiking shoes, children are welcome if they are with an adult.

Logistics: Saturday, Nov. 15, 3 p.m., Morrow Mountain State Park, Albemarle. More info: 704.982.4402.

Saturday forecast: Sunny, high of 49.

Mountains

There’s even, apparently, some color refusing to fade in the mountains. Even if there wasn’t, we’d recommend Saturday’s four-mile hike at Fontana Dam.

The hike departs from the dam on the Lakeshore Trail, which traces the shoreline through a second-growth hardwood forest. The views are great, and you’ll get additional insight on the area from hike leader J.P. Peoples, who will explain things like why a couple of rusted Model Ts are off the trail in a ditch. The hike is sponsored by Fontana Village.

Logistics: Saturday, Nov. 15, 11 a.m., Fontana Village. More info here.

Saturday forecast: High of 48, sunny.

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Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

The post This weekend: a bi at the coast, an eyeful elsewhere appeared first on GetGoing NC!.