Most Extreme (and inspiring) Race

I just discovered your blog and thought you (and the lovely readers of Cross Country Express) might be interested in hearing about one of the world's most extreme (and inspiring) races, the Mt. Cameroon Race for Hope, happening this Sunday the 17th of February.

This marathon-length race traverses over 10,000 vertical feet up a live volcano, one of the tallest on the African continent. The racers, mostly local farmers, compete for the equivalent of four years' salary, but to win they must overcome altitude sickness, temperature fluctuations of 50 degrees, and loose volcanic rock— many wearing only plastic sandals.

Runners/filmmakers Steve Dorst and Dan Evans just released a beautiful film about the race, called Volcanic Sprint, focusing particularly on the story of Sarah Etonge, winner of the women's race in the last 5 out of 7 years and a 39 year old, single mother of 7 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Etonge). She is known locally as the "Queen of the Mountain." The filmmakers are presently back in Cameroon shooting the 2008 race and donating 400 running shoes to the local athletes with their charity partner Soles4Souls.

If this strikes a chord, I'd love for one of you to write about the film (www.volcanicsprint.com) on your blog and/or post the trailer ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =F_YTDBqxd_Y) to help spread the word to the ever-more-connected international running community.

Kate (runner from DC)

P.S. If you're interested in digging deeper, I've posted some additional links below:

You and your readers can help spread the word about Volcanic Sprint:

• Filmmakers Steve Dorst and Dan Evans hope to make more films like this: stories that you won't find anywhere else!
• Buy a Volcanic Sprint DVD. At $19.99, it's a great gift for any runner. You may even want to get your friends together and host a screening party!
• Let us know when you post about Volcanic Sprint, and we'll link back to your blog from http://www.volcanicsprint.com/partners.
• Our charity partner, Soles4Souls, is donating 400 pairs of running shoes to the athletes at this year's Mt. Cameroon Race. We are donating 5% of DVD sales to Soles4Souls and hope to make an even bigger donation next year.

For more information, visit:

• About Volcanic Sprint: www.volcanicsprint.com
• About Soles4Souls: www.soles4souls.com
• Volcanic Sprint trailer: http://www.volcanicsprint.com/trailer/
• Soles4Souls-Volcanic Sprint partnership trailer: http://soles4souls.org/volcanicsprint.htm
• Press release on Soles4Souls-Volcanic Sprint partnership: www.volcanicsprint.com/pressRelease.pdf
• Endorsements of film by elite American runners: http://www.volcanicsprint.com/partners/
• Director's Statement by Volcanic Sprint Producer Steve Dorst: http://www.volcanicsprint.com/story/directors_statement.pdf
• Volcanic Sprint photos with captions: http://picasaweb.google.com/dorstmediaworks/VolcanicSprint (click "Slideshow" on top left to watch slideshow. To download high-resolution photos, click on the photo you want, then click "Download Photo" on right).

For interviews, contact:

• Producers of Volcanic Sprint, in Washington, DC, 202-530-0002: Steve Dorst (steve@dorstmediaworks.com) and Dan Evans (dan@dorstmediaworks.com).
• CEO/Founder of Soles4Souls, Wayne Elsey; elseyw@soles4souls.org, (866) 521-SHOE
• Head of the Fédération Camerounaise d'Athletisme, Ange Sama, Director of Mt. Cameroon Race: 011-237-95.29.11.67; fedecam_athletisme@yahoo.fr.
• Sarah Etonge, "Queen of the Mountain," and star of Volcanic Sprint. Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Etonge, or contact Volcanic Sprint's Unit Producer, Moki Charles: 011-237-99.91.03.99 or moki_charles@yahoo.co.uk.