ORANGE BEACH, Alabama  — With all the delicious seafood available at the Alabama Gulf Coast Area Chamber of Commerce’s 41st Annual National Shrimp Festival presented by Zatarain’s in a couple of weeks, many will be looking for a way to keep those pesky calories from showing up on their waistline. One way to accomplish that goal is to take part in the Shrimp Festival Run to be held Oct. 13 in Orange Beach.

According to Run Co-Director Frank Malone, there’s an event for everyone from the serious runner to the weekend walker. “We have a 10K run that’s set to begin at 8 a.m. at the Orange Beach Sportsplex on William Silvers Parkway,” he said. “After we get those runners off, we’ll get ready for the 5K run and walk that is set to begin at 8:30.”

This is the second year Malone and Co-Director Walt Graham have been in charge of the race, but Malone’s roots with the race go back more than 30 years. “I participated in my first one in 1978. There were a lot of runners, including me, who look forward to the Shrimp Festival Run every year,” he said. “Many people who took part in the race during its early years still participate, and some even have their kids and grandkids in the race. It’s great to see the race become kind of a family tradition.”

Graham said the 2011 race welcomed approximately 500 runners. “With the registrations we have now, it puts us ahead of where we were this time last year,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we have close to 600 runners this year.”

This is also the second year the race will take place in Orange Beach at the Sportsplex and the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail. “Because of the traffic situation during the Festival weekend in Gulf Shores, when Walt and I became the race directors, we decided to hold the run at the Sportsplex in Orange Beach, and take advantage of the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail,” Malone said. “City officials have worked with us diligently, and we believe the trail offers a great place for the runners to be able to concentrate on their running and not on traffic. I can’t say enough about how helpful the city was in helping us put this on.”

Proceeds from the run will benefit the Coastal Baldwin Educational Enrichment Foundation, Inc., a non-profit group that offers scholarships and grants to students and teachers at the public schools in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. “We’re thrilled to again be named the beneficiary of the proceeds from this year’s run,” CBEE Foundation President Tracie Sweat said. “We received a sizable donation last year, and we look forward to utilizing the funds this year to help make sure our students and teachers have access to items to enhance the educational experience that fall outside the funding provided by our financially-strapped school system.”

Sweat, who is a runner, said she plans to participate in the run this year. “The Backcountry Trail is a great place to run all the time, but it is especially great during this time of the year,” she said. “It’s not too hot and it’s not too cold. The surface of the Trail is pretty easy on the feet as well.”

Malone said he would like to thank the sponsors of this year’s run, including LA Fleet Feet, Sports’N More, The UPS Stores in Orange Beach and Foley, ERA Class.com Realty, Wintzell’s Oyster House, the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Sports Commission, Island Air, Publix, the Mullet Wrapper, Tacky Jacks, Budweiser, Cosmo’s, Cobalt, Domino’s Pizza and Gulf Island Grill. “We couldn’t put this on without the great support we get from out sponsors,” Malone said.

Malone said the fee for the race is $25. The hours for packet pick up and registration at the main entrance of the Shrimp Festival on Oct 11 is from 4 until 7 p.m. and Oct 12 from 4 until 8 p.m. Race day registration and packet pick up is at the Orange Beach Sportsplex from 6 until 8 a.m. and the cost is $30.

For info see the registration form on the Festival website at www.nationalshrimpfestival.com and click on 10K/5K run.