 There are a lot of socks on the market. Many of them are good...some of them are great. Darn Tough socks are simply awesome and for that reason (among others as you'll read below) Checkpoint Zero is thrilled to announce Darn Tough Vermont as our newest sponsor.
I set out writing this intending to introduce you to Darn Tough myself...the company and the socks. In the course of clicking around their website it occurred to me that I was never going to do as good a job explaining what makes them and their product so exceptional (and so very different from their competition) as they already have.
So here's Ric Cabet on Darn Tough:
Over a quarter century ago our family opened a mill and began making socks in Northfield, Vermont. Frigid winters and humid summers taught us that all socks are not created equally. Living in the most unforgiving climate in the lower 48 our socks had to be tough and of course they certainly had to keep our feet dry. Whether skiing, hiking, biking, or running, our feet were oblivious to the elements. Time moves on. Technology advances. Innovations follow. Over the years, we have tweaked and modified our performance socks to perfection. Just over a year ago we launched Darn Tough Vermont, The Premium All Weather Performance Sock, and dare we say, the toughest sock on the market, knit here, in our mill in Northfield. As a 3rd generation sock guy, I can tell you that what has kept my family in the sock business, in America, is the pursuit of quality. To date, DARN TOUGH VERMONT, is the culmination of those efforts. It's a brand uniquely created around a single, fine gauge needle, which means all our socks, from our Mesh running sock, to our over-the-calf Full Cushion ski sock, fit your foot exactly the same. It's custom counts of Merino wool and an exclusive blend of Coolmax which makes our socks incredibly strong and comfortable. And It's all about the knitting. Three generations of knitting know-how means, well, we know how. As the maker and marketer of Darn Tough Vermont we are unique. In an era of outsourcing and corporate takeovers, we are still true to our roots. Family owned and run, in Vermont, since 1978. In a word, local. Our experience is our reputation and we back it up with our lifetime guarantee. If our All Weather Performance Socks aren't the most comfortable and durable socks you've ever owned, return them for your money back." As we like to say, "We know socks, we wear 'em year 'round."
Darn Tough will make it's debut as a Checkpoint Zero sponsor at the Upstate Adventure Race on October 25th in Cleveland, SC. 
 SPOT LLC, a subsidiary of Globalstar, Inc (NASDAQ:GSAT) and the pioneer behind the award-winning SPOT Satellite Messenge, today announced that the company has received the prestigious 2008 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award for its SPOT Satellite Messenger that was named this year's winner of the Consumer Electronics category. This marks the sixth industry award for SPOT since being introduced in November of 2007.
The Wall Street Journal received more than 700 entries to be considered for the Innovation Awards. Judges looked for innovations that broke new ground in their field and demonstrated a measurable impact. Only four percent of the entries received the final award in 19 different categories.
The SPOT Satellite Messenger is a hand held personal safety communications device that uniquely combines GPS and simplex satellite technology, enabling users to stay in contact directly and reliably with friends, loved ones and emergency responders from virtually anywhere around the globe - even the most remote places - independent of cell phone coverage.
"To be singled out by the Wall Street Journal as the most innovative consumer electronics technology for 2008 from a field of hundreds of breakthrough products is truly a prestigious honor for our team," said Darren Bassel, Director of Marketing for SPOT LLC. "SPOT was designed to increase safety in the outdoors where traditional means of communication are limited or non existent and to provide peace-of-mind for friends and loved ones through satellite communications. SPOT has quickly established itself as an everyday lifestyle product that does much more. Today, tens of thousands of people around the world - from outdoor adventurers to soccer moms to trucking companies and social networks, are using the SPOT Satellite Messenger to stay in touch and track the GPS locations of the people that are the most important to them."
SPOT is battery-operated (two AA lithium batteries), rugged, and waterproof, and allows users to send satellite text and email messages for help, or to check-in and inform loved ones that they are out of harms way. In an emergency, SPOT will notify GEOS, an international emergency response center used to dispatch local rescue authorities to the SPOT user's GPS location.
Since its debut the SPOT Satellite Messenger has helped save more than 40 lives with its 9-1-1 emergency message function. SPOT retails for $169.99 SRP with a $99.99 annual subscription service. SPOT is available at more than 5,000 points-of-sale including retailers in the United States and Canada and at www.findmespot.com.
 After two successful events in Helen (2007) and Hiawassee (2008), the premier adventure race in the southeast is heading to Dahlonega, GA.
The 2009 Checkpoint Zero Adventure Race presented by Inov-8 will take place on March 7, 2009. It will be hosted by the R Ranch in Dahlonega.
An entirely new course, designed by Tony Berwald, awaits competitors that will travel from as far away as California, Washington and Vermont. They make the trip to be part of a race with a storied history and reputation for difficulty that challenges the more competitive racers and a format that lets less experienced teams reach the Finish in under 30 hours for an official ranking by skipping checkpoints.
The 2009 Checkpoint Zero Adventure Race will be part of the soon to be announced 2009 Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Series presented by Inov-8.
The first 10 teams to register and pay their entry fee (in full) will receive their choice of Checkpoint Zero branded Velocity Visors or Adventure Hats from Headsweats.
 The Gravity Play Xstream Expedition is underway in Moab, UT.
The 3 day race, part of the Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Series presented by Inov-8, began yesterday at 2:30 MST.
One of the unique attributes of the Checkpoint Tracker Series is that each event produces online coverage while the race is in progress. In most cases that coverage takes the form of a manually updated leaderboard, race blog and image gallery, but recent advancements in consumer GPS devices and web browser technology have allowed Checkpoint Zero to develop some pretty amazing new capabilities.
Using SPOT GPS tracking units, Google Maps and the Google Earth plug-in for Firefox and Internet Explorer, spectators can actually "fly" through a 3-D landscape to view the course and the exact location of each team.
Read the last updates and "shout outs" from fans at home along with photos from the course at Race Central or get a bird's eye view of the action on the GPS Tracking page.
 Don Mann Productions and the South Dakota Department of Tourism and State Development announced today that next summer the state will host Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT. South Dakota's unique environments will offer competitors in the "World's Most Challenging Human Endurance Competition" stunning new landscapes to explore and daunting athletic challenges to face.
"This is the 6th edition of the Primal Quest 10-day expedition adventure race, and at 600 miles - the longest," said Don Mann, Director of Primal Quest. "We believe next year's race in South Dakota is going to be a historic event, which will offer the world's most talented adventure athletes a premier course unlike any other in the sport. We're especially excited to have teams experience the Badlands, as there is truly no place like this in the world."
Next summer, just after the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, co-ed teams of four will race, without support crews, through the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota from August 15th - 24th. The traditional adventure racing disciplines of trekking, mountain biking, orienteering, swimming, and paddling will be well represented, but competitors can expect new challenges as well.
Athletes will spelunk in cave systems deep beneath the Black Hills, and will test their climbing abilities while ascending and rappelling from majestic towering spires. Navigation will play a much larger role than in previous Primal Quests and racers will traverse many miles of single track in the mountain biking sections. Teams will run with herds of buffalo and share the trail with deer, prairie dogs, turkeys, elk and big horn sheep. They will pass abandoned gold mines and historic western forts, while bald eagles soar overhead.
"South Dakota is proud to be the location chosen by Don Mann and Primal Quest for their race next summer," said Richard Benda, Secretary of the Department of Tourism and State Development. "We have so much to offer for an event like this and we will make this a great experience for the racers, their families and for the communities of the Black Hills region."
The Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau along with its partners have been instrumental in seeking out Primal Quest and bringing them into South Dakota. Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT will showcase Rapid City and the surrounding communities to a worldwide audience. It will also show the drama and intensity of expedition racing at its finest with all the action being broadcasted in the fall of 2009 on Rush HD. With the majority of teams from 2008 committed to returning in 2009, and even more teams expected to join them, the field will be as deep and competitive as ever.
Primal Quest is excited to welcome back our amazing partners from 2008. MyTopo.com, TATE, Mind Quest, along with Peak Assurance. Each of them has played an integral role in the success of the race, and we are proud to have them as sponsors for Primal Quest Badlands.
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presented by
Current Leaders
| DART-nuun |
400 |
| Eastern Mountain Sports |
390 |
| WEDALI |
380 |
| Alpine Shop |
362 |
| Nature Cure / PVAdventures.com |
355 |
| Checkpoint Zero / Inov-8 |
346 |
| 4 Corners AR |
344 |
| Feed The Machine |
275 |
| Calleva |
250 |
| Boulder Performance Network |
200 |
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