Next Up for the La Sportiva Mountain Cup: Mt Washington Road Race

La Sportiva N.A., makers of technical climbing, mountaineering, Mountain Running® and hiking footwear announced that their third 2009 Mountain Cup race, presented by GORE-TEX® and Fleet Feet Boulder, is set for this Saturday, June 20. The epic, 49th Mt. Washington Road race, presented by local sponsors by Northeast Delta Dental, with additional support from New England Runner magazine and Bridgton Academy is one of the most competitive mountain running events in the country and the third race of the 10 race national series.

The Mt. Washington Road Race is a 7.6-mile ascent to the 6288-foot summit of the highest peak in the northeastern United States, at an average grade of 12 percent. Each year the race attracts close to 1000 runners for the steepest all-uphill race on a paved road anywhere. For additional details, go to: http://mountwashingtonroadrace.com/.

The men’s course record for the Mt. Washington Road Race is 56 minutes 41.0 seconds, set in 2004 by New Zealand’s Jonathan Wyatt, three-time World Mountain Running Champion. The women’s record is one hour 10 minutes 8.2 seconds, set by Sweden’s Magdalena Thorsell in 1998. The masters records are 1:01:33.7, set last year by Simon Gutierrez of Alamosa, Colorado, and 1:13:33.6, also set last year, by Laura Haefeli of DelNorte, Colorado. LaSportiva athletes Kerri Nelson, of Gunnison, Colorado, Lisa Goldsmith, of Nederland, Colorado, and John Tribbia of Boulder, Colorado, are all registered for the event.

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 2009 La Sportiva Mountain Cup venues will include:

• 05/29/09 • Rock2Rock Run (10 km) • Asheville, NC (http://www.rock2rockrun.com/) COMPLETE
• 06/06/09 • Mt Diablo (25 km) • Clayton, CA (http://www.pctrailruns.com/Mount_Diablo.htm) COMPLETE
• 06/20/09 • Mount Washington Road Race (7.6 mi) • Gorham, NH (http://mountwashingtonroadrace.com/)
• 07/12/09 • Barr Trail Mountain Race (12 mi) • Manitou Springs, CO (http://runpikespeak.com/)
• 08/01/09 • Squaw Valley Mountain Run (3.6 mi) • Squaw Valley, CA (http://www.squawmountainrun.com/)
• 08/01/09 • La Sportiva Eldora Trail 10k (10 km) • Nederland, CO (http://digdeepsports.com/)
• 08/08/09 • Jupiter Peak Steeplechase (16 mi) • Park City, UT (http://www.mountaintrails.org/)

• 08/09/09 • Haulin’Aspen Trail Half Marathon (13.1 mi) • Bend, OR (http://www.freshairsports.com/)
• 08/16/09 • Half Wit Half (13.1 mi) • Reading, PA (http://www.pretzelcitysports.com/halfwithalf.html)
• 08/22/09 • Shop to the Top (6 mi) • Ketchum, ID (http://www.elephantsperch.com/)

At the second 2009 Mt Cup event, the Mt Diablo 25k in Clayton, CA, La Sportiva athlete Caitlin Smith continued her impressive season by showing her distance versatility with a dominating win on her home course. Teammate Keri Nelson was second, but with her 3rd place at the Rock2Rock event the weekend prior, assumed an easy lead for the Overall Mountain Cup and its $5,000 cash award. For current standings and additional information on the 2009 La Sportiva Mountain Cup, presented by GORE-TEX® and Fleet Feet Boulder, plus a complete list venues, sponsors, registered athletes and local participating retailers go to: .

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® and hiking shoes 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.