Locally-owned outdoor retailer
Rock/Creek announces the 8th Annual Rock/Creek StumpJump, a 50k and 11
mile trail running race to take place this Saturday on the Cumberland
Trail on Signal Mountain in Tennessee.

Registration has closed, with 500
trail runners signed up and representing 25 of the 50 states as well as Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Canada.

The Rock/Creek StumpJump has become one of the largest ultramarathon-distance races in the country. 400 runners attended last year's Rock/Creek StumpJump. Despite unrelenting heat that forced other
races such as the Chicago Marathon to cancel, last year's race "was probably the best StumpJump we've put on so far," said Dawson Wheeler,
Signal Mountain resident and co-owner of Rock/Creek. Dramatic views, challenging hills, and exciting creek crossings make this a race to
remember.

Last year's race raised $4,000 for the Cumberland Trail Conference (CTC)
for trail work on the 300-plus-mile long Cumberland Trail. The Trail,
still under construction, stretches across the state of Tennessee from
Chattanooga to Cumberland Gap. The 50K course starts on Signal Mountain
and runs into Suck Creek Gorge in the Prentice Cooper Wildlife Management
Area, where the runners complete the Mullens' Cove Loop on Walden Ridge,
then head back across Suck Creek to finish at the new Signal Mountain High
School. The 11-Mile race course is an out and back run following the same
initial route but turning around at Suck Creek Road.

Before the race, on Friday, October 3, 2008, Rock/Creek again will host
the general public for a Vendor Fair, and will serve racers a catered
carbo supper at the new Rock/Creek store at Two North Shore off
Manufacturers' Road. This family-friendly event will showcase the race's sponsors and will serve as a packet pick-up for racers. A clinic on trail running will also take place that evening.

Also that day, Icebreaker and Rock/Creek will be bagging cotton.
Rock/Creek has teamed with Icebreaker, the New Zealand-based edgy, environmentally-driven leader in outdoor apparel made from pure merino wool to transform old cotton t-shirts into sustainable shopping bags.
Customers are invited to bring in their old cotton t-shirts into Rock/Creek's Two North Shore location now through October 3rd. Rock/Creek
will transform the tee into a reusable shopping bag and customers will receive $10 off an Icebreaker pure merino top of their choice.

Sponsors of the race include SmartWool, Mountain Hardwear, Salomon, Hammer Nutrition, La Sportiva, The North Face, Greenlife Grocery, Vasque and Deuter. Proceeds go to the Wilderness Trail Running Association (The Boonies) for their trail building and maintenance efforts.

For registration information, past results and photography, please visit http://www.rockcreek.com/stumpjump/