“Team GORE-TEX®” Racing Team Closes All-Time Best Season

(ELKTON, Md.) – December 1, 2010 – Team GORE-TEX, W.L. Gore & Associates’ sponsored adventure racing team (www.gore-tex.com/teamgoretex), closes its 2010 racing season on a high note with its best record to date. Season highlights include a first-place win at the GORE-TEX® Trans-Rockies Run (www.transrockies.com) in the Mixed Masters Division, the team’s first overall title for an expedition-length adventure race (AR) at the Fat Otter Raid in Wisconsin, and a third-place finish at the Checkpoint Tracker AR Nationals, along with numerous personal bests for individual team members Peter Courogen, Mike Dawson, Brad McLean and team captain Julie Leasure.

“2010 has been a great year for Team GORE-TEX®. Not only have we won titles together as a team, but we each set personal and course records,” said Leasure, who also won first place female in the Grey Rock 50k Ultra, setting a course record, as well as first place female wins in both the Wildwood Trail Half Marathon and the Champoeg Park Half Marathon, where she finished with a time of 1:25:57 – a personal best.

“Most all of our success this season can be attributed to the folks at the Gore for all that they do for us,” added Courogen. “Without Gore’s wholehearted and unwavering support, none of these results, especially in the team events, would have been possible.” Courogen won first place masters (third overall) in both the Grey Rock 50k Ultra and the Hauling Aspen Trail Marathon. He also placed third (Masters) in the Pacific Crest Half Ironman Triathalon.

Along with Leasure and Courogen, Team GORE-TEX® includes Mike Dawson and Brad McLean. This year Dawson won first place in the Powderkeg Randonee Ski Race, along with first place (Solo) in the 2010 Adventure Xstream Moab 12Hr Adventure Race and third Place (Masters) in both the Park City Point-To-Point Endurance (80 mile) Mountain Bike Race and the Tour De Suds Uphill Mountain Bike Race.

“We are a different kind of team from most all of the top teams we compete against, being that we are all full-time working professionals,” said Courogen. “Most of the challenge of Adventure Racing comes in the form of coordinating the demands of our professional careers and family lives.”

In addition to sharing a passion for competitive adventure racing, all four team members are full-time product development/marketing specialists and engineers. Wearing the latest technical gear with GORE-TEX® and WINDSTOPPER® fabric, the team of uniquely qualified endurance athletes evaluate performance benefits and areas for improvement and offer specific recommendations for finished product enhancement.

“Gore could not be more proud of these fine athletes who comprise Team GORE-TEX®,” said Brian Gallagher, global footwear marketing strategist. “We’re looking forward to continuing to support the team as they set their goals for an even greater 2011 racing season ahead.”

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ABOUT W. L. GORE & ASSOCIATES: Perhaps best known for its consumer products like GORE-TEX fabric and ELIXIR guitar strings, Gore is a leading manufacturer of thousands of advanced technology products for the electronics, industrial, fabrics and medical markets. The company is headquartered in Newark, Delaware, and employs approximately 8000 associates in 45 facilities throughout the world. For more information about W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. and GORE products, call 1-800-431-GORE or visit www.gore-tex.com.

GORE, GORE-TEX, and designs are trademarks of W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. ©2010 W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., 295 Blue Ball Rd., Elkton, Maryland, 800-431-GORE, gore-tex.com.

Contact:
Cynthia Amon
W.L. Gore & Associates
camon@wlgore.com
443-553-0333