Outdoor Journal

A banjos and BENGAY affair: The Autism Society of North Carolina will hold its first annual 5K trail run on Saturday, Oct. 14, to raise awareness and money for the condition, which affects one in 175 school-aged children in America today.

The run will take place at Deerfields, a mountain retreat 20 miles south of Asheville, and will be accompanied by a one-mile fun run/walk and a “tot trot” for kids 6 and under. The 5K will start at 9:30 a.m., the one-mile at 10 a.m. and the tot trot at 10:30 a.m.

Asheville-area old-time musicians will be jamming all morning at the event, where there will also be square dances, children’s activities (including a fire truck and an appearance by Ted E. Tourist, the Asheville Tourists’ mascot), snacks and door-prize drawings. Information on autism will be provided as well.

For more information, visit www.autismsociety-nc.org.

Mint juleps ad infinitum: Congratulations to Marion guide Paul Garrett Thompson for taking top honors at the Sept. 9 Field & Stream Total Outdoorsman Challenge, sponsored by Jack Daniel’s and held near Nashville, Tenn. The 31-year old bested 15 other competitors and carried away $4,000 and, among other prizes, a three-bottle selection of the spirit that made Lynchburg famous. Say – who loves ya, Garrett?

Do you see what I see?: Likely you’re just now breaking out your Martha Stewart pumpkin-carving toolkit, but get this: The organizers of Asheville’s annual holiday parade have already put out the call for cyclists to cruise Patton Avenue in their spandex onesies during the Saturday, Nov. 18, event. “The weirder the better,” says organizer Michael Sule. Tall bikes, short bikes, penny-farthings, tricycles, unicycles, tandems, even those wacky recumbents – dust ’em off, dress ’em up and get ’em out there. But first, e-mail Sule at suleride5@gmail.com and let him know you’re coming.

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