Pardon me while my mind runneth over:
A sporting event that only can be found in Charleston is drawing closer.
The Charleston Distance Run will get rolling at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2 on Kanawha Boulevard in front of the Capitol Building. From there, hundreds of runners will take off on a challenging course filled with tough hills and scenic views.
There are plenty of 15-kilometer races around West Virginia and beyond, but the Distance Run is just a bit different. It replaces that "K" with an "M" and meanders 15 miles around the city of Charleston. Less experienced runners can still set out on a 5K race that uses part of the larger course.
In another twist, runners can even team up to tackle the entire 15-mile course by entering in three-person male, female and co-ed relays, each runner in the team taking 5 miles of the course. The winners of those events earn a special prize, the Joni Adams Memorial Relay Award, named for the late Joni Adams, an integral member of the Kanawha Valley running community who died in the floods of 2016.
The Distance Run has been a Charleston tradition for decades, a chance for the area's running community to welcome competitors from all over to take their shot at taming a course they won't find anywhere else in the country. Registration remains open at charlestondistancerun.com.
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Speaking of off-beat sporting events, did you know that cornhole is more than just a way to pass the time at tailgate parties? Some serious cornhole competition comes to Charleston on Sept. 1-2 as the American Cornhole Organization opens its 13th season with its Charleston Major at the Civic Center.
(For the few who may be uninitiated, you've probably seen cornhole. Ever watch folks toss beanbags toward wooden platforms, aiming for a hole near the top? Then you know cornhole.)
The Charleston Major kicks off a 17-city tour that stretches until the end of May and spans the country from West Virginia to Michigan to Arkansas to California. Competitors can enter any of the nine categories the ACO offers. If you think all those Saturdays before football games spent tossing beanbags have made you an expert, head to www.americancornhole.com to register.
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Say you want your pulse to race a little faster than a cornhole tournament can provide. Say you're into running, but you want to up the degree of difficulty and maybe add some mud, some walls ... or some barbed wire.
The Spartan U.S. Championship Series will hold a weekend of races Friday and Saturday at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in Glen Jean. Spartan races include some of the gnarliest obstacles around - ladders, walls, monkey bars, rope climbs and more. Registration remains open at www.spartan.com.
Registration also remains open for a charity race to be held Friday, to be hosted by one of the greatest athletes in West Virginia history, Randy Moss. Moss has taken to Spartan racing as a way to keep fit after his Hall of Fame-worthy NFL career.
Can Moss conquer the Spartan course like he did opposing defenses? Let's be honest. That course has about as good of a chance as a corner in single coverage.
Contact Derek Redd at 304-348-1712 or derek.redd@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @derekredd.