La Sportiva’s Boettcher Victorious at Mountain Cup Midseason Mark

(Boulder, Colo.) – La Sportiva N.A., makers of technical Mountain Running® footwear announced that pro athlete Bernie Boettcher ran down his rivals in this past Saturday’s 6th Annual Jemez Mountain Half Marathon Trail Run in Los Alamos, New Mexico. La Sportiva’s Boettcher narrowly edged Jared Scott of Grand Canyon, Arizona, and claimed victory in the sixth race of the national race series in 1:40:36. Boettcher, who was trailing Scott by four minutes, was able to overtake Scott when he took a wrong turn on the course and was disqualified.

“I really like the technical stuff, I excel at that,” stated Boettcher, who placed fourth in last year’s Jemez Mountain Half Marathon Trail Run. “Jared had a good lead at the top of the hill but I caught him on the technical downhill. Anywhere it was flat or uphill, he got away. On the down, I would catch back up to him. It made it really fun for me.”

The series, presented by W.L. Gore & Associates, makers of the GORE-TEX® brand, with additional support from Black Diamond Equipment and CLIF Bar will conclude at the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase, in Park City, UT, Saturday, August 6th. Leading up to the final event are the Rothrock Challenge, in State College, PA; La Sportiva Vail Hill Climb, in Vail, CO; and La Sportiva Table Rock, in Stinson Beach, CA.

Other significant La Sportiva athlete performances recorded just past the midseason mark of the 4th Annual La Sportiva Mountain Cup include last year’s women’s champion, Megan Kimmel. Kimmel is positioned well ahead in the women’s field and is currently sitting in strong contention to claim the Mountain Cup title for her third straight year. With only four races left in 2011, the men’s field is wide open with several competitors still in the hunt. La Sportiva’s Boettcher just moved into second place with his victory at Jemez, while Jason Bryant and Matt Byrne round out the top five rankings in 3rd and 5th places respectively. Both Bryant and Bryne plan to race in the upcoming Rothrock Challenge, however, Boettcher will not be in attendance.

“The 2011 La Sportiva Mountain Cup features the best trail races in the country, along with the most talented trail runners in the sport,” says La Sportiva Promotions Coordinator Ian Achey. “With the popularity of trail running emerging and the number of mountain races increasing every year, the La Sportiva Mountain Cup is quickly becoming the premier trail racing series in North America.”

Midseason highlights from the 6-month-long competition are many, with about $3500 raised for local charities from the “Going the Distance” tech tee program during the first six races. Also new for 2011, the Series is recognizing athlete performances outside the realm of the top competitors with the Standout Award. The first recipient of this award was Michael Kern; he’s completed the Uwharrie Mountain Run in Ophir, NC, five out of the last seven years and hails from the “golden” seventy and above age group. Recipients of the Standout Award receive a pair of La Sportiva Mountain Running shoes and an impressive prize package from the La Sportiva Mountain Running® team’s associate sponsors; Greenlayer Sports, Petzl, First Endurance, and Ultimate Direction.

For detailed commentary, standings, giveaways and timely race coverage reports throughout the season, check out the official online media partner of the 2011 La Sportiva Mountain Cup, iRunFar.com. For additional information about the La Sportiva Mountain Cup, a complete list of venues, sponsors, registered athletes and local participating retailers go to: MountainCup.com.

With over 80 years of heritage, La Sportiva has unrivaled experience in building the world’s finest performance mountain footwear. Creating innovation through passion, La Sportiva offers the most versatile technical climbing, mountaineering, Mountain Running®, hiking shoes and ski mountaineering equipment on the market. For more information on La Sportiva visit www.sportiva.com or check out the new online interactive community, La Sportiva LIVE, at: http://www.sportiva.com/live.