Rock/Creek and Wild Trails announced that the 2011 Rock/Creek StumpJump 50k Trail Race raised $35,000 for trail work in the Chattanooga area, up from $27,000 the previous year.

Wild Trails is now accepting trail-building grant proposals for 2012. To learn about submitting a proposal to Wild Trails, visit http://wildtrails.org/grants.html.

Wild Trails, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, partners with Rock/Creek for the StumpJump 50k as well as the remainder of the Rock/Creek Trail Series. With eight races annually, the Trail Series showcases the beautiful trails in and around Chattanooga, promotes the sport of trail running and – most importantly – raises needed funds to support local multi-use trail-building initiatives.

“Wild Trails works hard to help out our local trail systems and land managers in a variety of ways, but these cash donations are where the rubber meets the road,” Wild Trails Director Randy Whorton said. “Rock/Creek Trail Series sponsorships allow us to provide direct funding for trails, and the StumpJump 50k is the largest race in the series.”

All proceeds from Rock/Creek Trail Series events go directly to Wild Trails, funding much of the annual grant cycle as well as a variety of year-end gifts to worthy organizations. Members of the public are invited to join Wild Trails as annual members, joining us in support of trail work for the benefit of all trail users.

Through the Network for Good, donation is possible online by visiting:
https://npo.networkforgood.org/Donate/Donate.aspx?npoSubscriptionId=1003341&uniqueID=634170325278592495

The 2011 Wild Trails Grant Cycle awarded grants to the Lookout Mountain Conservancy, SORBA-Chattanooga, Cumberland Trail Conference, Friends of the Cumberland Trail, Southeastern Climbers Coalition, Lula Lake Land Trust, Tennessee River Gorge Trust, Trust for Public Land, and Southern Adventist University.

This year’s Rock/Creek StumpJump was the 10th annual event, bringing over 800 runners to the trails of Signal Mountain and Walden Ridge for the 50k and 11-mile races. After an emotional speaking engagement by The North Face athlete Diane Van Deren, Cincinnati runner David Riddle broke the 50k course record by over 10 minutes.

StumpJump also kicked off the 10-day RiverRocks Chattanooga festival, a fun and environmentally-conscious celebration of the Tennessee Valley’s incomparable natural resources, the health benefit of an active outdoor lifestyle and Chattanooga’s commitment to environmental stewardship.

Race sponsors included Capital Toyota, Patagonia, The North Face, Get Out Chattanooga, PrimaLoft, Deuter, Salomon, Mountain Hardwear, Cortizone-10, SmartWool, Outdoor Research, Marmot, Greenlife Grocery, La Sportiva, Columbia, Gold Bond, Hammer Nutrition, Archer Physical Therapy, Blue Smoke Coffee, Chaco, Keen, Merrell, North Shore Yoga, Nuun, Skullcandy, Smith Optics, Southern Spring Water, Suunto, Trail Runner Magazine and Vasque.