Recreation & Leisure

“I think about it this way: we don’t stop playing games because we grow old,” Schimmelfing said, “we grow old because we stop playing games.”

At last year’s 2025 Orange County Senior Games, there were 331 winners. Given that there were 331 entrants, one would naturally conclude that every participant is a winner at the Orange County Senior Games.

There are a handful of things in my life borne of my 28-year sabbatical from toasty North Carolina to the icy wilds of New England.

Attention recreational athletes and skateboard enthusiasts: The Town of Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation has issued a “Shred Alert!”

If you don’t care for the weather in North Carolina, just wait a minute. That being said, it’s safe to assume the spring forecast will be warm, with occasional showers, then generally hot over the summer months, and turning slightly cooler as we approach fall and winter.

Google “Best of 2025” and the search engine offers approximately 25,270,000,000 results…Make that 25,270,000,001. Here are my own unofficial honorees for 2025—those local entities, events, and competitions who humbly distinguished themselves in the interest of fun, fellowship, and fitness.

Nearly 1,000 elves took to the streets of Hillsborough on Sunday for Hillsborough Running Club’s one-mile “Running of the Elves,” which annually kicks off Hillsborough’s Holiday parade.

CARRBORO– Out of literally thousands of runners participating in last Thursday’s Thanksgiving morning Gallop and Gorge 8K road race in Carrboro, some came to see friends at what has become a rite of passage and an annual reunion of the local running community. Some ran to offset the caloric intake planned for later that day.

CHAPEL HILL –At the end of June of this year, Tropical Storm Chantal crossed paths with Chapel Hill, its trails and greenways—including the popular Bolin Creek Trail, leaving many of the Town’s parks and natural resources underwater.

Runners love choices. They can tirelessly debate the best races, the best shoes, the best headlamps, or the best flavor of energy gel. Area runners were suffering an “embarrassment of riches this past weekend, with four races between Carrboro and Hillsborough.

Watch the skateboarders at a skatepark, and you’ll see them hit magnificent heights and suffer ferocious spills. They’ll drop in, twist, turn, flip, and grind, achieve dizzying feats, tumble, take a few bruises, and then turn it all around for a big-time recovery.

Finally, a traffic alert we can all feel good about. Cars were speedily racing around the parking lots at the Chapel Hill Community Center this past Sunday afternoon, but while engines did not growl, spectators roared. Tires did not squeal, but laughing children did.

As storied in verse and rhyme, the South typically bursts forth each April and May with a fireworks display of blooming azaleas, dogwoods, lilies…all entering the ball like debutantes in all of their finery.

Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the unofficial “Father of Aerobics,” once said, “Exercise is a journey, not a destination. It must be continued for the rest of your life. We do not stop exercising because we grow old—we grow old because we stop exercising.”

Despite occasional spells of Indian Summer, park and recreation agencies are already gearing up for fall. During July—the fortieth anniversary of National Park and Recreation Month—we looked at events, plans, and challenges facing both the Chapel Hill Park and Recreation Department and the Carrboro Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Resources Department.

One of the reasons July was chosen to reflect National Park and Recreation Month was undoubtedly because it’s the perfect chance to use area parks, pools, and playgrounds around the US, even when, in some places (may they remain nameless), July can be hotter than an oven and stickier than glue.

Nearly 800 runners, walkers, and strollers braved the elements and took to the streets of Carrboro on July 4 for the “Four on the 4th” four-mile road race.

Traditional calendars may be immutable, but seasons, in my opinion, are relative—relative to where you live, work, and play.

Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture staged the original “reel deal,” “Star Wars: A New Hope” this past Sunday – May the Fourth.