#NASCAR fans are filling the outfields in Talladega for what has become part of the cultural ritual known to most Alabamians as “race week.”Just 60 miles away, a unique class of athletes is lining on the banks of Weiss Lake for boat inspection for another Alabama race, the #AL650

Welcome to the #AL650 #OnTheASRT! Want to follow in the paddle strokes of the AL650 racers? Hang out with us here on the Alabama Scenic River Trail social media channels during the race and follow #AL650 #OnTheASRT posts to learn more about the race course and the ASRT.

#AL650 #OnTheASRT:#weisslaketo think that #WeissLake is famous for three things: crappie fishing, its cameo in the 2006 movie Failure to Launch and being the official location of the start line for the Great Alabama 650. Racers launch from a boat ramp at the Highway 9 causeway.

Located in #ASRTDistrict3, the startline for the #AL650 is separate and within comfortable driving distance of other popular ASRT assets, including #LittleRiver and #YellowCreekFalls.

Racers are approaching the 50-mile mark in #GadsdenAL. Here, the athletes glide beneath the bridges in Gadsden and paddle near enough to the water’s edge to hear when fans shout hello. See them at the string-light-lit boardwalk at Riverwalk City Park in Gadsden at about 8 p.m.

#AL650 #OnTheASRT: Welcome to day two! Racers have been in their boats for 24 hours. The front runners have already passed Ohatchee, a small city on the edge of Neely Henry Lake.

#AL650 #OnTheASRT: Every year, racers finish the Great Alabama 650 with stories about instances when someone stepped onto the pier to cheer them on. Often these stories can be traced to Lake Martin, an Alabama lake AL650 boaters favor for its hospitality.

AL650 #OnTheASRT: Welcome to Moccasin Gap, the whitewater section of the Great Alabama 650 racecourse. Located near Wetumpka, racers have to pass through the rapids here to check in with officials at the #AL650’s checkpoint 1, located at Cossa River Adventures.

#AL650 #OnTheASRT: The swiftest racers move onto the Alabama River and reach Montgomery on day three. Racers will see more alligators and fewer people on the course from this point forward.

#AL650 #OnTheASRT: Selma marks the halfway point of the Great Alabama 650. This year, the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce will be on standby at the Selma City Marina to give racers hand-painted paddles, a token to commemorate participating in the race.

#AL65 #OnTheASRT: The racecourse is the core section of the Alabama Scenic River Trail, a 6,500-mile network of navigable streams and waterways in Alabama. This 650-mile core section stretches from the foothills of the Appalachian mountains to the Gulf of Mexico.

#AL650 #OnTheASRT: The Mobile Bay is the last leg of the Great Alabama 650. Racers hug the shoreline of this 413-square-mile waterway on this stretch of the racecourse. The bay is home to dolphins and alligators alike.

#AL650 #OnTheASRT: Racers began last night rolling into the finish line at the end of the #FortMorganAL peninsula. AL650 alum and Guinness World Records setter Bobby Johnson finished in six days, six hours, & 15 minutes, earning himself his second overall race title in this event

Thanks to Alabama Scenic River Trail for their gracious commendation. Always support Trail funding in the budget. Great resource for our state!

ASRT ED Andrew Szymanski recently presented at the Alabama Association of RC&D Councils annual conference. Szymanski is pictured below at the event with Secretary Greg Reed, and with Representative Mac McCutcheon, Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives.

Jacksonville Exchange Club president-elect and Alabama Representative Koven L. Brown poses with Alabama Scenic River Trail Founder Fred Couch following a recent meeting. Fred was selected to be a special guest at the meeting, at which he shared the ASRT origination story.

Hotel Indigo Tuscaloosa-Downtown, the Black Warrior Riverkeeper, and the Alabama Scenic River Trail recently partnered for a cleanup day on the banks of the Black Warrior River.

ASRTAmbassador Weathermansam Photography recently hiked a new 5.5-mile hiking path beside the #FlintCreek, which is just one more stop #OnTheASRT. Check it out!