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9 Countries Including US Show Interest in Hosting 2011 Worlds BBC

Lisa Dobriskey's Coach Says She Could Surpass Kelly Holmes Double Olympic golds is hard to beat.

"But while I have given much of my life to running, I am first and foremost a Kenyan, and the situation in my country is now so serious that I neither could, nor would want to forget it even now. "
-Paul Tergat writing about the serious drought in Kenya

More on Radcliffe Pulling Out of London:
*Pulling out of London Marathon Cost Paula Nearly a Guaranteed $350,000, Total Could be Closer to a Million Times of London
*Paula Radcliffe Out of London Marathon

World XC News:
*Editorial Praises Kenyan XC Teamallafrica.com
*Dave Collins, UK Performance Director, Says World XCs Still Important to Britain BBC

Khalid Khannouchi Getting Ready For London (Nice profile from San Diego's Union-Tribune)
*The 34 year old former world record holder has only finished one marathon since 2002 but after six straight 120 mile weeks says he's ready to go for London in 3 weeks. In the last marathon he finished, Khannouchi ran 2:08:44 at Chicago and Khannouchi said he was only 45% fit for that but claims he is 91% fit now.
*On The Record With Khalid Khannouchi Prior To Shamrock Shuffle (Chicago Sun-Times) Khannouchi says he went to 10 different countries to try to get his foot cured.
*Khannouchi Finishes Third at Chicago's LaSalle Bank Shamrock Shuffle In his first race in exactly a year, Khannouchi bolted to an early lead in very windy conditions, but was caught with 200 to go by fellow American Chad Johnson who was working with his Hansons-Brooks teammate Josh Eberly to battle the wind. Johnson won in 23:52, Eberly ran 23:56 and Khannouchi 23:57, which is 2:06:20 marathon pace. But don't count Khalid out yet though as again it was his first race in a year and he had just done six 120 mile weeks. Full results here

US Collegiate Action Heats Up
Stanford Invite
*Results
Gabe Jennings 14:17 in the 5k was an interesting note for casual fans of the sport. True aficianados will see there were tons of NCAA auto qualifying marks in the distance races.

Victor Conte Already Out of Prison He says jail was like a 'men's retreat' and that he didn't give Barry Bonds steroids. Considering he's an excon, we say the burden of proof is on Conte.

Kenyan News: Interview with Kenyan Star Wilfred Bungei, He Likes to Read and Country Music allafrica.com
*Ezekiel Kemboi Says He Wants Steeplechase World Record allafrica.com

Gilbert Okari, Guaranteed Women's World Record Headline Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Miler in DC
*Men's Elite Bios
*Women's Elite Bios

World Record in 10k May be in Sights of Kenyan Japanese Sensation Samuel Wanjiru "I hope to run 12:50 5000m, 26:15 10000m and 58 minutes half marathon next year" IAAF

NCAA Indoors: Meet Results
Day 2: Arkansas Wins Again, Johanna Nilsson Dominates Arkansas as expected got its 42nd NCAA Crown while Johanna Nilsson of NAU showed she's a true phenom as she pulled off the mile, 3k double with ease, blowing away the field in both, to go with her XC championship in the fall.
Day 1: Arkansas Men Start Well NWArkansas Times After 41 NCAA titles you shouldn't be surprised but Arkansas did well at Day 1 of the NCAA Meet. Josphat Boit won the 5k that went out in 4:40 and Arkansas also won the DMR to put itself in a good spot to pick up another title and are ahead of John McDonnell's expectations.
*Rhodes Scholar Garrett Johnson Wins Shot Put
Other Collegiate Action:
*DII NCAAs *DIII NCAAs
*Canadian Indoor 'NCAAs'
*NAIA Results Emailers and message boarders want you to know the mile was faster than the NCAA mile. So are many high school miles.

UNBELIEVABLE FINISH:
TERGAT OUTKICKS RAMAALA
The world record holder, Paul Tergat, and the defending champ, Hendrick Ramaala, battled it out during the final straight separated by inches. In final 10 meters, Tergat got a half foot ahead and Ramaala dove for the finish but it was a futile dive and Tergat triumphed by the smallest amount. On the women's side Jelena Prokopcuka got a narrow win over Susan Chepkemei. Chepkemei has a narrow lead until she started vomiting her fluids while running. American Meb Keflezighi was with Tergat and Ramaala until the final mile and finished 3rd while fellow American Abdi Abdirahman was 5th.
*Top Results *Full Results

"I left a piece of me on that race course that day. If I had to leave part of myself on any race course, that was a good place."-Dick Beardsley on his famed battle with Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon. Beardsley according to this article still knocks out 70 to 90 miles a week.

Drugs Drugs Drugs
Recommended Read:A Great Look at The East German Doping Program

World Half Marathon Champs
LetsRun.com Coverage:
LRC Exclusive!!!!! 3.5 MB Quicktime Video of Crazy Men's finish.
*Results

A Legend Passes: "I don't train never have. I don't think of running as training. I just go out and run each day, and let the racing take care of itself"- Jack Foster of New Zealand, who ran a 2:11:17 marathon at the age of 41 to win silver at the Commonwealth Games in 1974. He died in a bike accident yesterday at the age of 72.

A Look Back at a Truly Great Run: Todd Williams American Record at 15k Williams was on fire in 1995, and his 15k is one of the best American records. He finished 9th at World XCs that year when all the best in the world raced in one race. Nice read by Amby Burfoot

More isn't always better:
"I had over-trained. I put too much pressure on myself because I wanted that gold medal too much. If I had trained 15 per cent less, I would have won. I was training like a crazy person. There was a lack of self-confidence and a lack of maturity. An athlete does not only train with his body. He trains with his mind."
-Hicham El Guerrouj on why he didn't win Olympic gold in 2000

London and Boston Fast Approaching:
London: Paula Radcliffe's Withrdawal, Gives Deena Kastor a Great Shot at Winning London Marathon
Boston: Meb Talks About Trying to Win Boston

Richmond Raises Over $20,000 for Ryan Jobes Scholarship Fund

More Weekend Action Not Mentioned Yesterday:
SC: Men: Abraham Chebii Defeats Sammy Kipketer at Cooper Bridge Run as Kipketer Kicks it Home to Early to Phantom Finish Line
*Sally Barsosio Wins Cooper Bridge Run and $5000
Women:
S. Africa: Hendrick Ramaala Wins 20k in Build up to Flora London Marathon IAAF
Italy: Stramilano Half Marathon Recap, Kimugul and Kalovics Win, Baldini 3rd IAAF
Prague: Prague Half Marathon Recap IAAF

Deena Kastor Sets American Record at Berlin Vattenfall Half Marathon The Olympic bronze medallist in the marathon, Kastor, ran 67:34 but lost to Kenya's Edith Masai who ran 67:16. However, her record is garnering scant press attention and letsrun.com's vistors are asking why on our world famous message board. Is it because she's a woman?

World Cross Country: Say it Ain't So Kenny B!
Kenenisa Bekele Is Dominant Once Again. The Ethiopian completed his fifth straight double at worlds and then shockingly said after the race that he's leaning towards not running world xc ever again (which we think would be a huge travesty). On day 1, American Adam Goucher impressed as he was the highest non-African male finisher on the weekend as he finished sixth in the short course. In the women's action, Gelete Burika and Tirunesh Dibaba won the short and long course for Ethiopia respectively as Australian Benita Johnson rebounded from a disappointing Commonwealth Games and was outstanding as she was fourth in both women's races and led Australia to a bronze in the women's short course.
*Results
*Day 2 Recap
Day2: 10 for 10 Kenensa Bekele got his 10th straight world xc title as he accelerated away from his Sunday afternoon tempo run for the win. He's the best XC runner ever on the planet.
*Women's Short Course: Gelete Burika Leads Ethiopia to Win They beat Kenya by a point even though Tiunesh Dibaba dropped out
*Junior Boys: Kimai Ndiwa Leads Kenyan Team to Title
Day 1: Bekele Wins With Ease Once Again, Adam Goucher 6th in Short Course Kenenisa Bekele was out for another jog and accelerated away from the field the final quarter miler to win with ease for his 9th straight world xc title. Adam Goucher however had an incredible run and finished 6th, only 8 seconds back of Bekele in the best finish ever by an American in the short course race (which is being discontinued this year). If you've never seen Bekele run world xc, he wins every year, every race with ease. The US men were 5th in the short course. And a miler, medalled for the first time ever in the short course which is pretty ironic as the whole point of adding the short course was to get the milers to run it. Thankfully, the abomination that is the short course will no longer exist next year..
*Women's Long Course: Tirunesh Dibaba overtook Lornah Kiplagat over the final 300m to defend her title.
*Junior Women: Kenyan Scores a Perfect 10
PreRace:
*Athlete Quotes
Previous:
*Preview of Men's Races at World XC IAAF
*Preview of Women's Races at World XC IAAF
*Preview of Junior Races at World XC IAAF

Beijing Kicks Up 2008 Olympics Construction

Cathy Freeman Interview www.telegraph.co.uk

Commonwealth 5k Champ Augustin Choge Has Come of Age "He is the most versatile athlete that I have coached yet. (He is) strong, determined and very focused, "- legendary coach Brother Colm O'Connell

Steve Ovett and Seb Coe Give Their First Joint Interview in 22 Years They probably got some nice cash at the corporate gig as well, but it wouldn't have happened except Ovett's kid wanted Coe's autograph.
*LetsRun.com message boarder goes into detail about the Ovett and Coe breakfast.
*A Look at the 1980 Olympic 800m Final Daily Telegraph

"The world has lost interest in distance races like 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and even cross-country because they are regarded as competition between Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes"
-Paul Tergat

Married Thanks to LetsRun.com:
"I don't want to say it. It sounds crazy but it was a dream come true"
-John Stiner, on getting married to his wife, Sarah, who he met on the LetsRun.com message boards. Read about their incredible story.

"This is not coming out of retirement, this is just me showing that if you just enjoy what you are doing and stay in there and set little goals. I do a lot of speaking, I've spoken to every group in Australia and I tell them back when I ran I set little goals and I think here I am telling these guys, but I've got to do it myself and tonight was really a chance to walk the walk"
-Steve Moneghetti, who at age 43, broke the world best for the 1 hour run for master's, averaging sub 5 minute pace the whole way as Ron Clarke, John Landy, and Robert De Castella watched him run.

Paul Tergat
*"As the holy scriptures say, 'for whoever much is given, much is expected,' it is, therefore, my duty and privilege to help in any small way in giving back to society."
-Marathon world record holder, Paul Tergat, speaking after founding a sports foundation that will help disadvantaged youths.
*Tergat's hamstring injury has healed and he says he's ready to go at NYC: "I expect good results as I am in good shape" but he's out of next week's Half Marathon in Britain, but interestingly Gezahegne Abera (remember him, formerly the greatest marathoner in the world) is running. www.registerguard.com

Jos Hermans Tells Why Ethiopians Beat Kenyans: According to Jos it has little to do with training: "Ethiopians have more respect for their women, which explains why their women athletes perform better than their Kenyan counterparts, who excel in junior championships only to pander to cultural and domestic demands later in life" and "A mentally prepared athlete can easily beat a physically prepared one,"

JK Speaks: Progressing To Peak Fitness LetsRun.com coaching guru John Kellogg talks about progression runs and the art of the sport versus the science of the sport.

British Sports Minister Richard Caborn Proposes Drug Companies Fund Anti Doping Research to £12m Million a Year While the US Congress dances around one of the main issues (money), Caborn has proposed something that might make a difference. If the pro sports leagues would kick in their fair share as well, serious anti-doping research could be done. In other good news, it was announced that the HGH test now can be used on non-whites.

Vitamin C Can Help Marathon Runners Not Get Colds The surprising news is may not do much for the general population.

Drug News:
WADA Admits to Some Problems With Nandrolone Test

LetsRun.com Book Reviews 2 Good Reads on Milers 50 years apart:
Sub 4:00 and The Perfect Mile
Read the review of story on Alan Webb's (and Nate Brannen's) first brush with adversity. Plus, read about 3 great milers trying to be the first under 4 minutes 50 years ago.

And the winner is:
Best Running Movie of All-Time: Fire on the Track
After sitting on the results for months, we're proud to announce that the best running movie of all-time as selected by our viewers is a not an academy award winner, Chariots of Fire, or a highly publicized film produced by Tom Cruise (Without Limits), but rather a running documentary, Fire on the Track: The Steve Prefontaine Story. Read all about the voting and see the 10 best running movies of all-time as selected by our viewers.

In case you missed it:
Todd Williams Hangs them up
In our lengthy 3 part interview, Todd Williams, the premier 10,000m runner in the US, talks about his illustrious career and the sport of running in general.
Part I here, Part II here, Part III here