Daily stories and posts regarding health, sport, and the outdoors.

Southeast Moves to Block Offshore Oil Drilling in the Atlantic If there is any silver lining to the Gulf oil spill—the worst environmental disaster in American history—it is that Americans are finally taking a closer look at the dangers of offshore drilling. While the Gulf of Mexico is currently home to all of America’s offshore [...]

Natural Running Center Opens in West Virginia Two Rivers Treads is not your average running store. You probably won’t recognize most of the shoes on the wall, but owner Dr. Mark Cucuzzella insists they will make you a healthier, injury-free runner. He opened the small outpost in downtown Shepherdstown, W.Va., in May as a center [...]

Punk Rock Ironman Delivers a Veggie Beatdown If you think wolfing down a rare steak makes you macho, you don’t know John Joseph. The author of Meat is for Pussies: A how-to guide for dudes who want to get fit, kick ass and take names is hardly the typical outspoken advocate for vegetarianism. Joseph is [...]

Pisgah Stage Race 5: Number of days racers will pedal singletrack in Pisgah National Forest, outside Brevard, N.C. 175 miles: Number of miles they’ll pedal along rugged singletrack and gravel roads     44,000 feet Cumulative feet of elevation gain they’ll climb along rocky, rooty trails $20,000: Total cash purse on the line, the richest purse for [...]

Charlotte, N.C. has recently been dubbed “America’s Manliest City” by a study that ranks 50 major metropolitan areas using manly criteria like the number of home improvement stores, steak houses, pick-up trucks, motorcycles, and manly occupations (firefighters, police officers, construction workers). According to the study, Charlotte excels in the “manly lifestyle” category and “salty snack [...]

Defy Thirst In 2008, two Atlanta residents founded Defy Thirst, a nonprofit working to address the lack of clean water in impoverished countries through water filtration technology. But instead of only addressing the specific issue of water quality, Defy Thirst has developed a more holistic approach to outreach that embeds specialists and teams within a [...]

Fact: Half the runners at your local 5K are there simply to meet members of the opposite sex, according to a March 2010 survey of 1,000 regular runners. A newly expanded race series embraces the flirtatious aspect of road running by cutting to the chase…literally. At Skirt Chaser 5K events, women get a three-minute head [...]

Chia Seeds Endurance athletes have found a new use for your old chia pet. Trend-setting runners are using chia seeds as an energy booster for long runs. The seed is considered a “superfood” that’s high in Omega 3s, fatty acids, and protein, and some research has shown that the seed could lower blood pressure and [...]

Congress’ full permanent annual appropriation for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the main program for preserving and building parks, trails, and recreation. Last month, Congress passed a bill ensuring full and permanent funding for LWCF. Since its inception in 1964, LWCF has been fully funded only once. Money for the LWCF comes from [...]

“Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for doing the right thing.” —Friends of Blackwater Canyon’s letter to the U.S. Forest Service after it announced last month that it will not turn the historic Blackwater Canyon Rail-Trail into an industrial logging road.

Q: Everybody says converting my mountain bike tires to tubeless would reduce the number of flats I have. Is that true? A: It is true you’ll get less flats with a tubeless system.Generally with tubeless, instead of an inner tube, your tire is filled with a fluid that seals the tire to the rim. It’s [...]

Participation in trail running is up 17% since 2006 with a total of 4.9 million participants nationwide, according to the latest report from the Outdoor Industry Association. While the sport is gaining in popularity, it’s still a fringe sport compared to road running, which boasts 43.9 million participants. Meanwhile, a whopping 98.4% trail runners participate [...]

Want to strengthen the key paddling muscles on dry land? Try handstand training. Not just for circus freaks anymore, handstands strengthen your arms, shoulders, and core. Check out these simple wall-based handstand exercises from Kevin Yount, professional river boarder, and certified fitness instructor. Side Wall Walks Kick into a handstand against the wall with your [...]

When Jerry Beckwith was asked how he succeeded in winning multiple marathons and triathlons across the Southeast, he answered, “I learned how to suffer.” Every April, at the peak of the spring bloom, a group of kayakers and road bikers gather near Saluda, N.C., to honor Jerry in a race that epitomizes these words. Jerry’s [...]

Handmade Bikes Built in the Blue Ridge While bike companies make a limited number of frame sizes every year, the individual dimensions of the human body aren’t so uniform. For the perfect ride, a bike needs to fit like a custom suit, and fortunately the Blue Ridge has a new tailor. Aaron Dykstra is the [...]