BRC: How is Team Sportiva doing this year? Will they be making any
future stops in the Southeast?

Burrell: 2008 is great! We have 35 runners, competing across the country at all distances. At the USATF Mountain Running Championships at Mount Washington, Laura Haefeli took 3rd overall while breaking the 11-year-old Masters Course Record held by the legendary Joan Benoit Samuelson by 2 1/2 minutes! Just one week later she won the USATF TrailRunning Championships, for a rare 1-2 punch.

Last weekend was big here in Colorado: At the Barr Trail Mountain Race the La Sportiva Women's Team, led by Laura who broke the overall Course Record, went 1-2-3-4 in the Masters Division, while Bernie Boettcher, set an age group record for the Men. Meanwhile in Silverton, Jared Campbell finished 4th (for the second year in a row) at the epic Hardrock 100 race.

The La Sportiva Mountain Cup returns to Asheville for it's final event, the Trace Ridge Run on September 6. With $25,000 in cash prizes on the line, this race may attract some outside talent: http://mountainrunning.com/mc/index.php

BRC: How do interested runners learn more about joining the
LaSportiva team?

Burrell: Good question - I receive 2-3 emails every week asking this! People think there is some set standard, but the opposite is the case - we are looking for ambassadors for the brand; good people who run well and are happy to tell others how much they like the footwear.

BRC: What is the importance of terrain-specific footwear? Why should I
purchase a shoe designed for running on trails instead of just
wearing my road running shoes to the trail race?

Burrell: Another good question. It's easy to design a shoe for running on roads: all it really has to do is cushion your foot from the hard pavement. But a trail shoe is different: it has to do so much more! It needs to provide traction on the surface, protection from bumping and stepping on sharp objects, and support in the upper for control on the downhills. Road shoes simply are not intended to do these things; they will slow you down or increase risk of injury.

BRC: Since it's LaSportiva's specialty, tell us more about "Mountain Running!"

Burrell: In the country we say "trail running"; in England they call it "fell running", while the entire rest of the world refers to the sport as "mountain running". The courses in other countries tend to be more technical and exciting than ours, and since La Sportiva is an Italian company, specializing for the past 55 years in mountain footwear, we like the term "Mountain Running".

Besides our website, I'd like to direct your readers to another great source of information, http://mountainrunningblog.com.

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Want to know more?

Please send any questions you might have about racing, training or shoes/apparel to Chris Weller, chris@blueridgeoutdoors.com. We'll do our best to get answers for you from the folks who know it best.