The Non Valley in the Italian region of Trentino Alto Adige is the land of apples, cheese, castles, forests and... snowshoes. The idea of a running race with snowshoes (called "ciaspole" in Italian) came 42 years ago, in 1972, to Alessandro Bertagnolli, the former director of the Val di Non Tourism Office, when he saw some hunters snowshoeing along the frost-covered trails of the Tret forest. The following January, Bertagnolli with some members of the Podistica Novella running club, organized the first edition of the "Ciaspolada". When CNN broadcasted the event, coverage was picked up worldwide from television stations in Austria, in the United States, and in many Arab nations and the "Ciaspolada" became an international appointment, now the most participated winter competition in Italy. Each January (in 2015 it will be on the 4th) seven-hundred participants from twenty nations wearing the traditional "ciaspole" run and walk on a "winter wonderland" 5k trail.

A great place in Roma is the Villa Doria Pamphili park (featuring two and three kilometers loops inside). The Villa Doria Pamphili is a seventeenth century villa with what is today the largest landscaped public park in Roma and enjoyed as a place of leisure by the inhabitants of the Eternal City. It is located on the Gianicolo, just outside the Porta San Pancrazio in the ancient walls of Roma, where the ancient road of the Via Aurelia commences.

NEW BALANCE 1260 v4 - New Balance has provided consistent performance with their motion stabilizing shoes, and the 1260 has been the stalwart of the category for them. Version four updates the aesthetics, but more importantly advances the function and execution of the shoe for better performance. The upper features a closed mesh with both traditional synthetic leather overlays and no-sew welded overlays. A new asymmetrical heel counter puts extra material on the medial side for support, less laterally, to save weight as well as free the foot to move to its outer edge, for those fractions of a second when it is toughest on the shoe. The midsole maintains the 8 millimeter heel to toe drop, with minor changes to the crashpad, and second density on the medial side. The very light weight N2 element is unchanged as well, so the cushioning is quite plush. The outersole has moved from the podular rings of blown rubber in v3, to a more traditional blown rubber configuration, allowing a bit more surface area touching the road. The overall effect is a shoe which protects the foot while standing up well to the forces exerted by both the road and the foot.

Testers: "Fit well with plenty of room. Cushioning was fine with a very stable feel. I was pleased with how it handled my long runs day after day."

Sizes: Men 7-13, 14, 15, 16 (D,2E); Women 5-12, 13 (2A, B, D)
Weight: 12.4 oz. (men's size 11); 10.4 oz. (women's size 8)
Shape: semi-curved
Construction: Strobel slip-lasted, EVA Strobel board
Recommended for: low to medium-arched feet with moderate overpronation