Slalom skateboarding is pretty easy, really. Gravity does most of the work; all you really need is nerve.
There's some skill involved, too, but I wouldn't know about that. I haven't acquired any, beyond the basic ability to balance upright while making turns on a rolling board. Even as an absolute beginer, though, I had a blast [...]

Inspired by naturalist, wetlands biologist and artist David Carroll, I went for a walk this evening in the woody bog behind my house.
Carroll lives in Warner, and he spoke Saturday evening at an Appalachian Mountain Club meeting in Canterbury.Carroll studies, writes about, photographs and makes wonderful paintings of turtles. Salamanders, too, but mostly turtles, especially Spotted, [...]

Slalom skateboards are asphalt aficionados, connoisseurs of concrete.
Some of New England and Canada’s top slalom skaters proclaimed Summer Street in downtown Antrim a pavement masterpiece, after carving it up during the first annual Race for Old Gold Jug last fall. This year's race is coming up Sept. 22 and 23.
 “You can’t believe my look of disbelief and [...]

I’ve heard plenty of experts advise that running shouldn’t hurt, and I’m sure they are right. As a general rule, if something hurts, you should stop.
Still, I don’t think I’ve met a runner yet who hasn’t had to deal with pain at one point or another, and runners will usually keep going if at all [...]

The drought ended this weekend, and I ended a dry spell of my own, running my first race – the Pisgah Mountain 23K – since May, when I hobbled through Soapstone.
 My first thought, after waking at 5:30 a.m. and realizing that it was raining, was to go straight back to bed. I wasn't pre-registered. I dug [...]

I am the delighted owner of a second-hand white water kayak!
I hadn’t planned to buy one, but the Wave Sport 'Micro' it was a good yard sale deal, and having taken it out twice this weekend I am very glad I gave into impulse.
I now know the first thing about kayaking: it’s fun. I also [...]

I learned from the WMAC website that Race Director Paul Funch of Groton, Mass., has taken ill with the dread Lyme Disease.
Funch runs (that is to say, makes possible for everyone to run) the original Wapack Trail race and the Groton Town Forest Race. I don’t know him, but I appreciate the work that he [...]

My friend Steve Blunt has put his first and, to date, only music video up on You Tube!
Ev and I helped Steve with the making… I pretended to play bass (Evan later borrowed the same ax to start learning to play for real) and Ev got to skateboard amongst the shelves of the Plaistow Public Library (that part [...]

I’ve whipped up a couple of really excellent meals in the past few nights, ever since I got out for a run Monday in Beaver Brook.
Running makes a fellow hungry, and as the saying goes, there is no better seasoning than hunger to flavor one’s food. That’s not what made my meals great, though, nor [...]

The second Trail Treasure Contest is closed, and we have our winners!
Congratulations to "Hogans10," the winner of a $50 gift card at Goodales Bicycle Shop, and Tiffany Stanton, winner of a $25 Goodales gift certificate. Hogans10 did not include a name with his or her e-mail entry, which is fine.
Congratulations to everyone who got out and found [...]