Vasque® and Gore® Announce the 2008 North American Trail Tour

Red Wing, MN – The second annual Vasque North American Trail Tour (NATT), a trail running series with venues throughout the United States and western Canada, is set to begin, and this year promises to be even bigger and better than last. Primary sponsor and trail shoe manufacturer Vasque is partnering with W.L Gore & Associates and superb race directors for the 2008 series, which includes events for all levels of trail runners.

The trail tour program is a grassroots initiative that supports select local race-series events and affiliated retailers in an effort to improve brand awareness and showcase trail running nationwide. The partnerships also provide Vasque and the GORE-TEX® brand a platform to promote innovative shoe technology and educate runners on the importance of using trail-specific products.

“As a manufacturer of high-performance, technical trail running shoes we feel it is equally important to join forces with those who are making a difference on the trails,” says Outdoor Division Director and Vasque Brand Manager Mark Dinndorf. “Our dedicated race directors work very hard to provide a fun and challenging race environment for trail runners everywhere. It is our objective to support their efforts, as well as the trail community as a whole.”

The partnership with Gore, a recognized leader in high-performance climate-comfortable fabric innovation, design, and production, will allow Vasque to extend more support to the trail running community. It will also enable the series to expand from 75 races in 2007 to 112 in 2008.

“We are very keen on this partnership,” says Brian Gallagher, Global Marketing Footwear Strategist for Gore. “We admire the overwhelming support Vasque has for the trail running community at the grassroots level. To join them in sponsoring events that make a difference in communities nationwide made complete sense to us.” “There is definite synergy between our companies in supporting this fast-growing population of trail runners.”

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Vasque Trail Tour Partnerships for 2008 include the following:

Events Location
Vasque Moose on the Loose, New Hampshire
Great Eastern Trail Series, Charlottesville, VA
Vasque King/Queen of the Mountain, Northern CA
Vasque DINO Trail Series, Indiana
Vasque Kansas City Trail Series, Kansas/Missouri
Vasque Great Lakes Endurance Series, Michigan/Wisconsin
Vasque Rogue Trail Series, Austin, TX
Vasque Peter’s Canyon Trail Series, Southern CA
Vasque Tampa Trail Series, Florida
Vasque Fast Trax Trail Championships, Alberta, Canada
Urban Environmental Challenge, New York, NY
Vasque Golden Leaf ½ Marathon, Aspen, CO
Steamboat Springs Running Series, Steamboat, CO
Vasque Cougar Trail Series, Seattle, WA
Rock Creek Trail Series, Chattanooga, TN

Additionally, NATT has secured some very high-profile races both domestically and abroad. This summer, on June 29th, Vasque will play host to the USA Track & Field 10k trail championship in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The winners of this prestigious race will qualify for the National Trail Team and compete in the World Championships, to be held in Sweden in 2008. The worlds will be hosted in Colorado in 2009.

To learn more about Vasque, the North American Trail Tour, or to find a local event, visit http://www.vasque.com/in-action/trailtour/index.cfm. For more about Gore visit www.gore-tex.com.

GORE, GORE-TEX, are trademarks of W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. ©2008 W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., 295 Blue Ball Rd., Elkton, Maryland, 800-431-GORE, gore-tex.com

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