Tag Archives: French Broad Classique

This weekend: Peddlers, paddlers, plodders

It’s one adventurous weekend in North Carolina, with the Combat Run at the coast, a bike tour in the Piedmont and paddle racing on the French Broad in the mountains.

Coast

My friend Jason did the Tough Mudder in Georgia earlier in the month and he did not take it lightly, training for the event by dedicating four months of his life to P90X. Surprisingly, though, not everyone approached the grueling event with the same dedication. “There were people who hadn’t trained at all,” Jason told me. It’s in that spirit of last-minute “What-the-hey” that we draw your attention to Saturday’s Combat Mud Run in Wilmington. The 5K course includes such obstacles as 4′, 6′ and 8′ walls, mud crawls, a mud walk, a swamp run, tire climb, culvert crawl and “fallen trees” (presumably not felled whilst you’re running beneath them) and a “Foot Long Bungee Hall Way Obstacle.” read more

This weekend: Get wet

Classique paddling on the French Broad.

The weather’s warming, it’s time to hit the river trail.

Coast

We’re getting into prime paddling season at the coast: Not too hot, not too cold — really, just Goldilocks right. Making this a prime time to get in on Saturday’s kayak trip through the Roosevelt Natural Area at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. This trip takes in the tidal flats and mellow waters of Bogue Sound, between the aquarium and the mainland. A naturalist will explain this cool environment and explain why it smells like it does. read more