Run for the Oaks and St. Patrick’s Day Festivities

March, 13, 2008 , by Cydney

On Saturday, March 15, the City of Raleigh, Parks and Recreation Department will hold its 26th annual Run for the Oaks. All proceeds go towards planting trees in Raleigh, the City of Oaks. This race drew a record field of 824 entries in the 5K in 2007. This year’s event features a new start time and new race route. The run begins at 8:30 a.m. at City Market in downtown Raleigh. Instead of the figure-8 course used in the past, this year the course runs out the Mordecai section on Person, by Historic Mordecai Park, and then comes back on Blount Street. Just before the finish, the runners will come back to Person and finish where they started. To get an updated map of the race route, visit parks.raleighnc.gov or active.com

In conjunction with the run participants are invited to join the City of Raleigh Urban Forestry Division for the Arbor Day Celebration. Free seedlings will be distributed and tree care experts will be available to provide information. The 5K is the first race of the day, at 8:30 a.m., and the kid’s run for children ages 10 or younger begins at 9:15 a.m.

The Raleigh St. Patrick’s Day Parade will start at noon and the after-parade activities will be held downtown in Moore Square from 1 -5 pm. The parade grows bigger and better every year and is the second largest in the Southeast with over 3,500 marchers including floats, pipe and drum bands, horses, dancers and many recognizable mascots. The parade is a celebration for all ethnic groups and cultures. The Festival will feature The Green Beret Parachute Team, several bands on the “Shamrock ‘n Roll Stage”, traditional Irish & Scottish Dance groups and the NC State Pipe Band, among others.

For more information visit: http://raleighstpats.org.

Don’t forget Tir Na Nog will, once again, host the O’Raleigh ‘08 Block Party on Blount St. from 1 - 11pm with traditional Irish Music all day inside the pub and WALRUS going on stage at 10:30pm. It pays to show up early; last year they weren’t charging cover until much later in the day.

St. Patrick’s Day festivities will fan out from the center of downtown, as the day goes on, to include bands and performances at the many other Irish Pubs in the area. Napper Tandy’s will close off their section of West Street for bands from 5 - 11; Hibernian will host parties at both their Raleigh and Cary locations; and Buckhead Saloon will host a large party also.