Winter running aficionados can whet their appetite this year with three events in the new RunningLane Winter Wild Thangs Trail Series.
The three events kick off in December at Monte Sano State Park with long- and short-course options. This sister series to the immensely popular Summer Wild Thangs Series will be sponsored by Marco’s Pizza. Runners familar with the summer events will find similar trails but a bit more testy challenge with a longer finale in January.
“We can’t be more excited about bringing the Winter Wild Thangs Trail Series to Huntsville this December,” said Will Rodgers, co-founder of RunningLane. “To be honest, our runners deserve the credit for this one. Over the last few years we’ve had many people reach out to us about how we should do a winter trail series. After you hear it enough, you need to act on it.”
The events are:
Dec. 21: Frozen Yeti: 5 Mile and 10 Mile
Jan. 4, 2025 – Frozen Trash Panda: 10K and Half Marathon
Jan. 18, 2025 – Frozen Goat: 15K and 30K
The series is designed for new and experienced trail runners. First-timers for winter running will learn about clothing and temperatures, fueling and hydration in cold conditions. Trial-and-error is a great teacher. A new view of Monte Sano State Park also will be revealed. For example, running on South Plateau or Keith Trail in summer with all the foliage is vastly different in winter when you can see, seemingly, forever. Participants may encounter mild (for winter) conditions, or rain, mud, snow, ice, freezing fun or a combination of all.
Winter Wild Thangs events also may fit into runners’ training plans for the annual Mountain Mist 50K the last week of January. Some of the same trails will be used in the Winter Wild Thangs as in the Mountain Mist funfest. RunningLane has several events with half marathon distances, but the 15K and 30K lengths (9.3 and 18.6 miles) in the series finale are new and solid additions.
“We’re providing a series of races that increase with race distance to help people get ready for the granddaddy of them all, Mountain Mist,” Rodgers said. “Runners who sign up for the entire Winter Wild Thangs Trail Series will save 15 percent with the early bird pricing and get a plaque for their three finisher medals. Even if you can’t do all three races, we’ve made it easy for people to sign up for individual races, as well. We can’t wait to hit the trails at Monte Sano with TVO and the runners in the area!”
Don’t Like Winter?
If you’re averse to scampering yetis and chilly temps, the upcoming Cathedral Caverns trail 5K and 15K aren’t far away.
These RunningLane trail runs at Cathedral Caverns State Park take runners up more than 900 feet on Pisgah Mountain. After descending, and a little woodsy loop, they return to the woods and roads leading to the caverns. The final mile is in the astonishingly beautiful cavern on a lighted path to the back and then out. The finish line is near the mouth of the cavern.
The popular Conquer the Cave 5K is coming up on Sept. 22. The spring Race to the Cavern for 2025 adds a new 5K to go with the 10K and half marathon. Those events are March 1-2.
