Tuesday Night Trails at Red Mountain Park

If you enjoy running on interesting trails in natural settings with a fun group of people, then check out Tuesday Night Trails, an ongoing series of group trail runs at Red Mountain Park on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. The free runs have a 5:30 p.m. sign in.

The runs have a dramatic setting, said Katie Bradford, Red Mountain Park director of communication and marketing.

“Nowhere else in the country can you run by an old mine shaft from the 1800s and then a few minutes later pass an 80-foot-tall adventure tower in the forest and then a group of 150 goats eating privet and kudzu off the trail,” she said.

The fun factor is increased by the variety of different routes the runners follow, Bradford said.

“The route is always changing, and there is so much to look at while you run,” she said. “The change-up makes it fun, and the people are great company.”

Tuesday Night Trails features several groups that vary by either distance, pace or both, and each group has a leader to take participants through the run. At the conclusion of the run, organizers make a sweep of the trails to make sure no one is left behind. “Every pace is accommodated, and each person taken care of,” Bradford said.

And the fun for participants doesn’t stop at the end of the run, she said.

“The whole gang goes across the street afterwards to Overtime Bar & Grill for the cold beverage of your choice,” Bradford said. “Good People (Brewing Co.) supports [us] by offering some great deals on their beer.”

The runs — sponsored by Alabama Outdoors and the Birmingham Urban Trail Society — will continue until late October or early November, she said.

For more information, call 202-6043, visit redmountainpark.org or go to the Red Mountain Park Facebook page.