Lace up your running shoes. There are numerous runs and walks on the calendar during the next few months. It’s the perfect way to kick start your New Year’s fitness resolutions, but it’s also just a good excuse to get back to the beach! We’ve put together five reason why you should get out your water bottle, strap on your ear buds and hit the pavement in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.
1. Beautiful scenery while you run/walk.
2. Proceeds usually benefit a worthy, community cause.
3. It’s great exercise.
4. Spend time with friends doing something out-of-the-ordinary.
5. It’s fun!
Upcoming Races
Orange Beach-based Columbia Southern University will host the Glow In The Park Fun Run on Saturday, Jan. 31 as part of the school’s Relay for Life fund-raising campaign. The non-competitive run will be held at The Wharf and will begin at 5:45 p.m., making it a glow-in-the-dark run, as well. The post-race party at The Wharf will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Early-bird team and single registration is now open.
Get ready for some post-race fun at The Hangout following the 2015 Sweetheart 5K and Half Marathon, Feb. 21. The Sea Turtle Half Marathon begins at 7:30 a.m. and Sweetheart 5K begins at 8:30 a.m. The 1-Mile Run starts at 9 a.m. Following the race, there will be food and drinks at The Hangout.
Make a run for it during Flora-Bama’s Beach Run-Walk for America’s Warriors 5K and 1/2 MarathonMarch 21 at 9 a.m. The event benefits the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The Foundation assists the surviving children of deceased special operations military personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty, and provides immediate family assistance for wounded special operations personnel and their families. The half marathon will head east into Florida for 10.5K, then turning around and ending at the Flora-Bama. The 5K will head west in Alabama for 2.5K then turning around and end at the Flora-Bama.
Take your pick of runs on March 28. The Third Annual Shrimp Basket Giving Run takes off that day, as does the 2015 Flora-Bama Interstate Soft Sand Run.