Get yourself in the mood for a great training season with this video of last year's events, then share the fun of fitness, the wonder of Waccamaw and the excitement of Take the Lake by sharing this video with your friends! Post it on your Facebook page and let everyone know that you support good health and fitness in Columbus County, North Carolina.
 We're expecting a wildly colorful Take the Lake training season and Labor Day weekend this year as we pay tribute to artists.
Each year, we select a theme, which not only makes things more interesting, but helps us target a specific group in our community to give them extra encouragement to participate. We started this in 2011 when we recruited military veterans. The next year, we focused on teachers, in 2013 we "called the cops" with our law enforcement theme, and last year we harvested a crop of farmers. We are thrilled to partner this year with the Columbus County Arts Council, because director Sally Mann is a blast to work with and is enthusiastic about the prospects. Say, isn't it time to start training?  The 2014 Take the Lake committee would like to wish everybody a wonderful and happy Christmas and New Year. Speaking of New Year, what will you resolve to do in 2015? How about a few of our Take the Lake Personal Endurance Challenges? Remember, your fitness and wellbeing not only helps you, but affects your family, friends and those around you, so give the gift that's good all around!
Also, check out a few other things we've been busy with: Funnee Faces for Families First, and CreateAthon Columbus County.  Our 2015 Training Season Timer Clock is ready, thanks to our sponsors who contributed an extra $50. We offer the timer free to all fitness events in the county throughout the year and when possible, we'll place it on location at festivals displaying the time of day below our sponsors' logos. Here it is at the Pecan Festival in Whiteville. Would you like the clock at your fitness event? Contact us.
 Several area nonprofit organizations will have important creative work done for them free of charge during a 24-hour blitz early next year if they apply and are accepted to the first CreateAthon event in Columbus County. The event will bring in talented graphic artists, as well as video and radio experts from around the region to produce printed materials, advertisements, public service announcements, short  Start your holiday season and winter right with a brisk run through downtown Whiteville. The oldest footrace in Columbus County, the Pecan Fest Run will start at the Chamber of Commerce at 8 a.m. Saturday. Run or walk the 5K, 8K or one-mile routes, and after you finish, you'll be right in the middle of the exciting Pecan Festival!
It's fall, and time for deep thoughts, so share your thoughts in ways that matter in two surveys:
 Catch this video from action caught with a GoPro during the three days of our event this year. Click the full-screen icon in the lower-right corner for the full effect!
 Members of the Columbus County Photo Club have been hard at work all weekend, shooting, cropping and uploading thousands of photographs of you, and they have enough ready to help you celebrate your achievement!
They all volunteered in this fundraiser for Take the Lake and the club, which is one of the strongest and most fun photo clubs in the region. They meet monthly, go on field trips and have cool little contests to help keep you shooting. So, enjoy their work, buy a few pics for good causes and maybe even join the club!
Most of the day was gorgeous, with a heavy afternoon shower cooling things off for the last 50 or so walkers. Times have been entered here, with names for all the people who preregistered.
See you tomorrow for the Paddle Challenge starting at 8 a.m. and the Bike & Hike (no hike this year) starting at 2 p.m., or Monday for the Swim starting at 8 a.m.! 
Click image to visit Take the Lake's photo page on the club's website.
The talented photographers of the Columbus County Photo Club will be out in force this weekend, shooting thousands of photographs of our walkers, runners, paddlers, cyclists and swimmers.
You should be able to see your photos shortly after (we hope the same day of) each Personal Endurance Challenge, at the Take the Lake page on the club's website.  Weather in the form of heavy rains all summer gave the 14 Take the Lake X-TREME! competitors a break Saturday as organizers closed the state park for the race, shortening parts of the routes. But the weather came back and dealt a blow all day. The swimmers entered the water in the twilight of 6:40 a.m., forced by southerly winds to change from their preferred start at the dam. A steady chop along the four-mile route took down one competitor, but the leader, Mike DeCinti  Get Hungry, Get Ready, Go! Don't miss out on Take the Plate Friday night at Lake Waccamaw United Methodist Church. It's a great opportunity to load up on those carbs to power you through the weekend. EVERYONE is invited, so you don't have to Take the Lake to Take the Plate!
 Body Shapers gym in Whiteville has filled two team posters and is starting on a third, with more than 60 "members" on their team ready to participate this weekend.
Jozi Patterson, 14, passes the public beach on Lake Waccamaw during the fourth leg of our X-TREME! Saturday. Jozi became the youngest person ever to complete the 48-mile challenge of swimming across Lake Waccamaw and then circling it by kayak, bicycle and on foot. This article first appeared in The News Reporter -- Registration has been shut down as organizers prepare for the largest fitness event in the county this weekend. More than 1,000 participants are expected for the free events on and around Lake Waccamaw Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Preregistered participants may pick up their numbered bibs this week at Body Shapers in Whiteville, where event t-shirts and hats are also available. Last-minute updates are available at the event’s website, Takethelake.org. Take the Lake is a set of four “Personal Endurance Challenges” that motivate participants to train and prepare for physical achievements. Celebration of the 2014 theme of “agriculture” is expected, with 
County Extension Service Director Dalton Dockery, left, and Field Crops Agent Michael Shaw prepare hundreds of seed packets and information sheets to give to Take the Lake participants this weekend. The vegetable seeds are available thanks to a donation by Dewey Hill of Hill's Grocery Stores.
 Snickers erupted from fellow event organizers when Eric Brandt unfolded a luxurious reclining chair on the lawn of the Boys & Girls Homes during Take the Lake X-TREME! Saturday, but envy followed as they realized its unique work-avoidance potential. Eric spent only part of the 18-hour-day in the chair as he helped a dozen solo competitors and two teams achieve their X-TREME! goals.
 Jan Palmer & escort Katherine Hyatt Event organizers Walter and Jan Palmer and Mark Gilchrist completed the four events of Take the Lake X-TREME! Saturday, ensuring they receive the coveted John A. McNeill and Lee J. Greer awards, as well as the uber-coveted X-TREME! award.
But better, this also means they will be free to manage the X-TREME! next Saturday, August 23 at Dale's Restaurant, Lake Waccamaw. Taking their sweet time, the trio enjoyed perfect weather - with a brief storm at lunchtime - cycling 21 miles, swimming 4 miles, paddling 14 miles and walking 14 miles to finish long after dark. Online preregistration for the Labor Day weekend Take the Lake will end this Friday, Aug. 22. If you miss that, you have to wait in line on site, and you won't be able to leave early for the Walk / Run.
Just click here to REGISTER. We have had 355 people register. Here's the breakdown:
Here are some more numbers for you: During the Walk / Run, you may burn about 1,300 calories, 1,200 during the Paddle Challenge, 1,500 in the Swim and about 600 calories in the Bike & Hike. 
Thanks to the Whiteville Fire Department for hanging our banner on the Powell and Powell Attorneys building in Whiteville. New firefighter Heath Porter, right got some training on the ladder truck from firefighter Chris Evans, left.
 The 2013 Bike & Hike This article appeared in the Aug. 7 edition of The News Reporter For the third year in a row, organizers of the largest fitness event in the county will modify two of their four participation routes over Labor Day weekend due to recent heavy rains. The two land-based events usually circumnavigate Lake Waccamaw, taking a route that includes three miles of nature trails in Lake Waccamaw State Park and crossing of a concrete dam at the Waccamaw River. Park Superintendent Toby Hall advised the event committee earlier this week that water will likely be flowing over the dam, closing the | Please excuse
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