A whole lot of blisters later, Montrail, a leader in high-performance trail running footwear, has announced the winners of its 2007-2008 Montrail Ultra Cup series -- without the results of the Western States 100.

While the event’s final race – and often its most grueling -- was cancelled due to California wildfires, the heat was still on competitors as they tortuously raced in the series’ other events, all of which push them to their mountain limits.  

“The winners for this year’s Ultra Cup were determined based upon cumulative results after finishing at least three races,” says Montrail’s Erin Brosterhouse.

For the Men, Erik Skaden  of Folsom, Calif., took first, followed by  Jean Pommier  from Cupertino, Calif., in second. There was no qualifying third place winner. For the women,  Nikki Kimball  of Livingston, Mont., ran her way to first, ahead of Caren Spore, from Davis, Calif., in second and Leslie Antonis  from Modesto, Calif., in third.  

For this year’s series, 50-mile events took place in Crystal Mountain, WA; Lynchburg, VA; Cool, CA; Sacramento, CA; and Marin Headlands, CA; with the Miwok 100 Km wrapping things up in Auburn, CA.

When you start with the most well known races in ultrarunning and enhance their profile by combining them into a series, you make an impact that is even greater than the sum total of the individual events,” says Krissy Moehl, Ultrarunner and Promotions Manager for sponsor, Nathan.

Since this year’s start list for the Western States 100 was determined by lottery or earned by a top three finish in an Ultra Cup race, each person on the 2008 WS 100 final Start List will be granted an automatic entry into the 2009 event. With no lottery for 2009, the only way to gain entry into one of the oldest ultra trail events in the world is to earn it with a top three finish in a 08-09 Ultra Cup race.

If you’re thinking of running next year’s series, heed the following hints from past competitors:

Ultrarunner: Stephanie Ehret: “Focus less on training and more on nurturing and preserving your love of running. Joy is rock; fitness is scissors. Rock beats scissors!”

Ultrarunner: Kyle Skaggs: “Have fun! Look around and see how beautiful the mountains, rivers, and forests are. You may still hurt, but at least you’re in an amazing place.”

Ultrarunner: Mike Mason: “Passion and attitude are as important as fitness and training when running mountain ultras, perhaps more so.”

Ultrarunner: Luanne Park: “Keep your enthusiasm in check. Cross train. Variety is the spice of life. Smile. Stop and smell the roses. And most importantly, listen to your body. If you want to stay into running for the long haul, like I have, you have got to be smart about it. If you are tired take a day off, or two. Better a few days off than months because of injury, I know this from personal experience.

Info: http://ultracup.montrail.com

About Montrail:
Established in 1993, Montrail is a premium outdoor footwear brand known for its technical, high performance trail running and hiking footwear for outdoor enthusiasts.  Montrail sells footwear to retailers in the United States and in 29 countries worldwide. In 1996, Montrail embarked on a mission to improve the standard for comfort and fit in footwear by creating IntegraFit™, its proprietary fit technology. To learn more about Montrail visit www.montrail.com.