La Sportiva Announces Sponsors & Races for 2010 Mountain Cup

La Sportiva N.A., makers of technical climbing, mountaineering, Mountain Running® and hiking footwear announced that Fleet Feet Sports Boulder and W.L. Gore & Associates, makers of the GORE-TEX® brand, have confirmed as presenting sponsors for the 2010 La Sportiva Mountain Cup. This marks Fleet Feet’s third year in a row as presenting sponsor, and Gore’s second year with the Mountain Cup. New for 2010, Outside Magazine has joined as the official media sponsor of the La Sportiva Mountain Cup. The Mountain Cup’s first race of the 10-race national series is the Mt. Penn Mudfest, in Reading, PA, set for Saturday, April 3.

“The La Sportiva Mountain Cup is growing in participation numbers every year,” says La Sportiva’s Marketing Manager, Laura Fryer. “For 2010, we are excited to bring the Mountain Cup to five new destinations including the first race next month, the Mt. Penn Mudfest. The Mt.Ashland Hill Climb in Ashland, OR, and the season finale Up and Over in Taos, New Mexico, are also two new events that promise to introduce the spirit of the Mountain Cup to mountain running enthusiasts around the country. With Outside magazine teaming up with us as the official media sponsor, we will be providing more real time race reporting through social networks and blogs, allowing our followers to see what’s going on with the Cup anywhere, anytime.”

The La Sportiva Mountain Cup brings European-style trail/mountain racing to America, featuring ten trail races at select destinations around the country and $25,000 in prize money. The series is open to anyone who’d like to participate in any Mountain Cup event; participants may enter as few or as many events as they want. Overall scoring will be tabulated after each race and final results will be based on the participant’s best five events. In addition, each event will be scored for overall female and male, with each gender being broken down into two categories, open and master.

The 2010 La Sportiva Mountain Cup venues will include:

• 04/03/10 • Mt. Penn Mudfest (15 km) • Reading, PA (http://www.pretzelcitysports.com/mtpennmudfest.html)

• 05/22/10 • Jemez Mountain Half Marathon (13.1mi) • Los Alamos, NM (http://www.highaltitudeathletics.org/JemezMt.html)

• 05/28/10 • Rock2RockRun (10 km) • Asheville, NC (http://www.rock2rockrun.com/)

• 06/05/10 • RothRock Challenge (30km) • State College, PA (http://www.rothrockchallenge.com/)

• 07/18/10 • Barr Trail Mountain Race (12 mi) • Manitou Springs, CO (http://www.runpikespeak.com/)

• 08/07/10 • Squaw Valley Mountain Run 10k (3.6 mi) • Squaw Valley, CA (http://www.squawmountainrun.com/)

• 08/07/10 • Jupiter Peak Steeplechase (16 mi) • Park City, UT (http://www.mountaintrails.org/)

• 08/07/10 • Mt. Ashland Hill Climb (13.3mi) • Ashland, OR (http://www.mtashlandrun.com/)

• 08/08/10• La Sportiva Eldora Race (11km) • Nederland, CO (http://www.digdeepsports.com/lasportivaeldora11k.html)

• 08/21/10 • Up and Over 10km (10km) • Taos, NM (http://www.taosskivalley.com/trailrun/)

Additional information on the La Sportiva Mountain Cup, a complete list of venues, sponsors, registered athletes and local participating retailers go to: <www.mountaincup.com>.