Volunteers interested in doing some trail work at Monte Sano State Park can help Sunday afternoon with a group from the Huntsville Area Mountain Bike Riders.
HAMR volunteers and others will meet at the biker’s parking lot shed in the park and work from 1-4 p.m. The targeted area involves a poorly drained spot on the Mountain Mist trail between Tally Ho and Sinks.
Arrive before 1 p.m. (park entry fee required) and wear closed-toe shoes or boots and appropriate apparel. Bring gloves, hydration and protective eyewear. Tools will be provided. Expect 2-3 miles of hiking.
Best Running Store Nominations
The Running Event is now accepting nominations for the 2026 Best Running Stores awards program, which celebrates running industry and community leaders.
The awards reception will take place during the final day of The Running Event in San Antonio on Dec. 3. Click here to submit a nomination.
“Run specialty stores are the foundation of the running industry, and every year, we just keep seeing that foundation grow stronger,” said Genae Salinas, TRE Event Director. “The Best Running Stores awards program has become a cornerstone of TRE. It’s more important than ever to celebrate the stores driving our industry forward while supporting their local communities.”
A pillar of TRE, the awards program recognizes run specialty retailers that exemplify meaningful community impact, excellent customer service, intentional employee support and innovative business practices. Each nominated store is extensively evaluated on criteria including customer experience, inclusivity, training opportunities, and community engagement. The top 100 stores are secret-shopped as the last step of the evaluation process.
Fleet Feet Huntsville/Madison was among the South Region finalists in 2008-14, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023.
Winners will be announced in late July.
Nominations for this year’s Best Running Stores program close March 13. Click here to nominate a store.
Aldermans Featured
Paula and John Alderman of Decatur are featured in the latest issue of Decatur-Morgan Living 50 Plus, describing how they got into running and why they enjoy it.
Their first running event was a turkey trot 5K about 13 years ago. Like many holiday events, it was a “we signed up the family for this” deal and they jumped in. The self-described “couch potatoes” finished the event and then started looking for others. Before long, Paula was putting the two into road and trail events to stay active.
As usual, along the way they found out it was fun, met other folks and got involved with the River City Runners and volunteering. If you’re at the Cross Eyed Owl group runs each week or perhaps a 5K or half or trail event, you’ll likely see this dynamic duo getting it done.
Exercise > Anxiety, Depression
A compilation involving some 77,000 participants and more than 1,000 studies showed that aerobic exericse could help battle depression and anxiety, according to the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
As reported here by ScienMag.com, the “sweeping umbrella review and meta-meta-analysis synthesized a vast amount of data from numerous prior studies to evaluate the effectiveness of various exercise modalities on mental health outcomes across diverse age groups and demographic categories. The findings point to aerobic exercise—activities such as running, swimming, and dancing—as especially potent in mitigating depressive and anxious symptoms, often performing on par with or surpassing traditional treatments like medication and psychotherapy.“
That’s not to say that aerobic exercise is a cure for depression or anxiety. But it definitely sheds light on how and how much it could help.
Read more about it here. A separate study shows how exercise affects the brain, also an interesting read.
Upcoming Events
Some notable local events are on the horizon that might turn a head or two, including:
— ThePaper Chase 5K in Huntsville and Race to the Cave 5K at Cathedral Caverns, both on Feb. 28. Proceeds from the Paper Chase race help area public school teachers obtain free classroom supplies.
— Delano 12-hour endurance event, at Delano Park in Decatur, on a certified 1-mile course. Great for setting a state age record, personal best, training or just for fun
— 25K Trail Run on RSA’s Weeden and Madkin mountains on March 14, for trail runners who want some different scenery
— Also on March 14 is the Wild Irish Run 10K and 5K in Guntersville, one of the state’s oldest running events dating to 1979
Find all of these and other events in the area, from 5Ks to marathons on road and trail, here in the TVO Calendar.
