Next Up for the 2011 La Sportiva Mountain Cup: Dry Creek Half Marathon

La Sportiva N.A., makers of technical Mountain Running® footwear, announced the fourth race of the 2011 La Sportiva Mountain Cup’s 10-race national series, the Dry Creek Half Marathon, in Hidden Springs, ID, set for Saturday, April 2nd. W.L. Gore & Associates, makers of the GORE-TEX® brand, has confirmed as the presenting sponsor. Black Diamond Equipment and Cliff Bar are supporting sponsors for the national trail running series.

“We are very excited to be a part of the 2011 La Sportiva Mountain Cup,” says Dry Creek Half Marathon Race Director, Jeff Ulmer. “This is our sixth year, the course will be beautiful, and the park like setting for the race finish will be exciting for spectators and racers alike.”

La Sportiva will be running their “Going the Distance” tech tee program at the Dry Creek Half Marathon. In an effort to raise 15k for local/regional charities throughout the season, La Sportiva will unveil a limited edition tech tee at each one of the Mountain Cup races. One hundred limited edition tees will be on sale at the Dry Creek Half Marathon La Sportiva booth for $15 each with all the proceeds going to the local non-profit Ridge To Rivers Trail System. The tech tees, produced by Green-Layer Sports, offer a breathable blend of 50% recycled polyester/50% polyester.

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. Each event will be scored only for overall male and female. At the end of the season, the top 5 overall male and female runners will receive prize money for their performance. Also new for 2011, the Series will recognize an athlete outside the realm of the top competitors by presenting the Standout Award to a participant who displays some kind of notable achievement regarding the race. Recipients of the Standout Award will receive a pair of La Sportiva Mountain Running shoes and an impressive prize package from the La Sportiva Mountain Running Team’s associate sponsors.

The 2011 La Sportiva Mountain Cup venues will include:
• 2/5/11 • Uwharrie Mountain Run (20M) • Ophir, NC
http://www.raceuwharrie.com/
• 3/5/11 • Nueces (25K) • Rocksprings, TX
http://www.tejastrails.com/Nueces.html
• 3/26/11 • Bel Monte Endurance Run (25K) • Sherando Lake, VA
http://www.badtothebone.biz
• 4/2/11 • Dry Creek Half Marathon (13.1M) • Hidden Springs, ID
http://cityoftreesmarathon.com/?p=14
• 5/14/11 • Don’t Fence Me In Trail Run (30K) • Helena, MT
http://www.pricklypear.org
• 5/21/11 • Jemez Mountain Trail Runs (13.1M) • Los Alamos, NM
http://www.highaltitudeathletics.org/JemezMt.htm
• 6/4/11 • Rothrock Challenge (30K) • State College, PA
http://www.rothrockchallenge.com/4601.html
• 7/3/11 • La Sportiva Vail Hill Climb (10K) • Vail, CO
http://www.vailrec.com
• 7/23/11 • La Sportiva Table Rock Trail Race (13.1M) • Stinson Beach, CA http://pctrailruns.com/event.aspx?dtid=9906
• 8/6/11 • Jupiter Peak Steeplechase (16K) • Park City, UT http://mountaintrails.org/events/jupiter-peak-steeplechase/

For detailed commentary, standings, giveaways and timely race coverage reports throughout the season, check out the official 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: http://www.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.