Achieve

New Balance, headquartered in Boston, MA, is a leading manufacturer of technologically innovative width-sized performance footwear and athletic apparel for women, men, and children. The range of product categories includes running, walking, cross training, basketball, tennis, classics, adventure, and kids. New Balance is proud to be the only athletic shoe manufacturer currently producing footwear in the U.S. The company employs more than 2,600 people around the globe, and in 2003 reported worldwide sales of $1.3 billion.

New Balance's corporate website provides detailed information on their footwear, apparel and accessories products as well as the company's history and philosophies. The Products section offers specifics on the following running segments: Training, Trail, Racing Comps, and Racing Spikes. The N is for Fit and Performance Center sections detail the guiding principles and advanced technologies behind New Balance's running products and emphasizes the importance of proper fit. There is an Events and Team NB section that offers information on New Balance�s elite athletes and running sponsorships, including the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure and the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. Visitors can also join Club NB for training tips and information on new products, New Balance-sponsored events, and special promotions. There is also a "Find a Retailer' section where visitors can search for stores in their area, narrow their search for a 'Running Specialty' store in their area or link to one of several preferred online retailers.

www.newbalance.com

BROOKS

Run world, run

Founded in 1914 and based in Bothell, Wash. Brooks Sports, Inc. is a leading running company that designs and markets a line of performance footwear, apparel, and accessories in more than 26 countries worldwide. The company's mission is to inspire people to run and be active by creating innovative gear that keeps them running longer, farther, and faster.

Known for engineering footwear that provides the best possible fit for runners, Brooks offers proprietary platforms - Linear, Universal and Curved - combined with width offerings up to 4E meet a wide variety of runners' needs. Brooks breakthrough advancements include HydroFLX® for unsurpassed cushioning; Diagonal Rollbar™, a high-tech feature designed for overpronators; and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate™, a pioneering midsole material that's now an industry standard. Other Brooks technologies include Podular Technology®, HydroFlow® and Substance 257™. Brooks' award-winning apparel line fuses function with fashion by using the most lightweight, moisture-moving fabrics including Brooks-owned Powerpro™, Silc™, Aireplex™ and Vapor Dry™.

Brooks' website includes a wealth of information on Brooks' proprietary technology, as well as a wide viewing of gear broken down by gender across footwear, apparel, accessories and team gear. The footwear section is further segmented by features: Stability, Cushion, Moisture Control, All Season, Speed and Walking. The site includes information on running events, training tips, and athletes, as well as the latest in sports medicine and injury prevention. A runners forum is currently under construction.

www.brooksrunning.com

SOF SOLE

Fit Happens

Sof Sole™ offers a complete line of performance footbeds, socks, laces and shoe care products to fit the needs of the active athlete. Sof Sole Fitsys™, the first sock-insole fit system, enhances performance and comfort by offering hydrologix™ material and open celled IMPLUS™ foams for maximum moisture management and shock absorption.

Sof Sole's website features a complete selection guide to its market leading products, including the new performance Stable Trac™ footbed, and is a runner's destination site. The site offers runners the opportunity to find an event in their area, information about the Sof Sole Elite team, product testimonials, retailer locator and promotional offers. Recently, Sof Sole added an Elite Team blog, an on-line forum for Sof Sole elite team athletes to communicate with each other and Sof Sole web site visitors to comment and ask questions to the team members. The Sof Sole blog is a discussion forum where athletes can post their race stories, product testimonials, questions to the rest of the team and advice for staying active. Visitors to the site can read the team's postings and post their own comments to the site. Sof Sole has a team of more than 400 elite athletes that compete in marathons and events all across the country. The site gives everyone from the elite athlete to the overall running enthusiast a way to make fit happen.

www.sofsole.com

MOVING COMFORT®

Fit For Women®

In 1977 Moving Comfort invented a new category: women-specific running apparel. It has tenaciously maintained its female focus, today offering a comprehensive range of athletic apparel for women, including sport bras from A-DD, performance underwear, shorts, tights, pants, tops and outerwear for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Led by founders Ellen Wessel and Elizabeth Goeke, the Chantilly, Virginia-based company is driven by its belief that "a fit woman is a powerful woman®". The brand is distributed nationwide through sporting goods, outdoor, travel and running specialty stores.

Moving Comfort's website features a wealth of information, including critical features and benefits of sport bras and guidelines for proper measurement. The site also allows browsers to view details of the current season's products.

www.movingcomfort.com

CHAMPION®

Be Your Own Champion®

For over 20 years, Champion has been giving active women exactly what they want - athletic clothing that is supportive, stylish and comfortable. The first Jogbra® Sports Bra was ingeniously constructed from two jockstraps sewn together by two female athletes who couldn't find a supportive bra for running. The first design was so revolutionary that it's been added to the permanent collections at both the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Collection. With the same innovative spirit that prompted the design of the first sports bra, Champion has expanded its line of products to meet ALL the clothing needs of active women. As a division of the Chicago-based Sara Lee Corporation, a company that has helped develop and market brands like Bali, Hanes, Just My Size and Playtex, Champion is working to set new standards in women's activewear. Champion builds on its heritage as an originator and innovator of men's and women's sports apparel by answering the needs of active, health-minded people with innovative, high-quality, comfortable athleticwear and related products. Innovation is a reflection of Champion's integrity and dedication to offer the best sports apparel possible, with practical, real improvements.

Champion's website includes a broad assortment of athleticwear, sports bras, underwear and socks for men and women, as well as information about Champion's latest innovations - the Double Dry® Cotton collection (Spring '05), Friction Free® Running (launched in Fall '03) and Double Dry® Innerwear Sports Bras (launched in Fall '04).

www.championusa.com

180s

Push

Stylishly warm ears was Brian LeGette and Ron Wilson's original goal when they designed 180s, an innovative ear warmer that wraps around the back of the head. Starting as a class project at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in 1994, the two MBA students raised start-up funding through a mixture of credit card debt and $100,000 from fellow students. The company has since grown to occupy a 48,000 square foot space in Baltimore's Inner Harbor that includes both a research and development center with a temperature control environment for in-house weather simulation and an interactive store-front where consumers can personally test new designs. 180s is focused on solving real problems encountered by real athletes in harsh outdoor environments. Its innovative, patented products, including sunglasses and gloves in addition to ear warmers, are featured at more than 18,000 retail outlets worldwide.

180s' website includes a wide selection of ear warmers, gloves and sunglasses designed for running, performance and sports casual needs, including ExoLite Ear Warmers (weighing less than 1 ounce) and Convertible Running Gloves specifically designed for cold weather running. The site also features a wealth of information regarding 180s' history, patented technologies, "Team 180s" information, reviews and numerous accolades.

www.180s.com

PEARL IZUMI

For over 50 years Pearl Izumi has been solving sport specific problems. The company was founded in Tokyo, when a father produced Japan's first bicycle racing apparel for his son, a promising racer. In 1981 Pearl Izumi entered the US market and since then, Pearl Izumi USA, Inc. has evolved into one of the world's foremost manufactures of technical-performing and quality manufactured sports apparel and footwear. Pearl Izumi is dedicated to meeting the needs of the enthusiast cyclist, runner and outdoor athlete.

Pearl Izumi's website includes the technical information on both its running and cycling specialties. Running product is segmented by tops, shorts, tights/pants, outerwear, footwear and accessories. The site also provides information on Pearl Izumi's extensive athlete sponsorships.

www.pearlizumi.com

PUMA

PUMA® is the global athletic brand that successfully fuses influences from sport, lifestyle and fashion. PUMA's unique industry perspective delivers the unexpected in sportlifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories, through technical innovation and revolutionary design. Established in Herzogenaurach, Germany in 1948, PUMA distributes products in over 80 countries.

Puma's high-tech running site, www.pumarunning.com, features a wide assortment of footwear, men's apparel and women's apparel. Some unique characteristics include a footwear scanner enabling a browser to view a shoe from the side, bottom and heel angles. It also includes detailed information on foot motion and footwear construction, as well as the foundation of Puma's Duo CELL, Archtee and IdCELL technologies. A special feature includes a "Why Do You Run" section inviting visitors to explain what motivates them to run. Several stories are posted on the site. The site also information on training tips, Puma-endorsed running events, running wallpaper downloads, and even a computer animation running game.

www.pumarunning.com/english/home.html

MIZUNO

Mizuno means Serious Performance.

Established in Osaka, Japan in 1906, Mizuno Corp. is one of the largest general sporting goods manufacturers in the world. It specializes in baseball, golf, softball, running, track & field, and volleyball equipment. Mizuno's corporate philosopohy is "to contribute to society through the advancement of sports and quality sporting goods."

Mizuno USA, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mizuno Corporation based in Norcross, Ga, manufactures and distributes baseball, golf, softball, running, track & field, and volleyball equipment, apparel, and footwear for North America. Mizuno began selling footwear in the United States in 1980.

Mizuno's corporate website features a broad selection of footwear based on properties: Neutral, Control, Support, and Track & Field; as well as apparel, bags and accessories. The site details Mizuno's breakthrough innovations in footwear, including Wave Technology® Cushioning and Stability, Sensorpoint, Intercool; VS-1, X10, and Airmesh. Browsers can also find new product updates, product reviews, and a store locator.

www.mizunousa.com/home04.nsf/running