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Lots Of Weekend Action - Marathons in Rotterdam, Paris and Berlin (half), relays in Florida and Texas (Texas Relays Live Results) and road races in Carlsbad, Ireland and D.C.

Rotterdam Marathon Sunday: Patrick Makau in His Debut Vs James Kwambai The race features the debut of half-marathon star Patrick Makau (8 times under 1 hour) as he takes on James Kwambai (who ran 2:05:36 challenging Gebrselassie in Berlin last fall). The race will be live on the net (4 am) and on TV (Universal Sports 8am eastern and 4pm eastern) in most of the US (check availability here) . *Fortis Rotterdam Marathon Press Conference Video (Kwambai, Kibet, Limo, Cheromei And Pitrea)
*58:52 Runner Patrick Makau Ready For His Highly Anticipated Marathon Debut Against Top Competition In Rotterdam
*David Monti Handicaps Fortis Rotterdam Marathon
*Past Rotterdam Winners

*Paris Marathon Preview
*Kipkorir Riding 2-Marathon Win Streak

IAAF Preview Of Carlsbad 5k *Carlsbad Thread Scott Bauhs in his first race for Adidas, Anthony Famiglietti coming off big win at Gate River 15km, 13:16 guy Collis Birmingham from Australia, Alistair Cragg, plus returning champ Terefe Zewdie and Abreham Cherkos leading Ethiopian entrants. On the women's side, American star miler Shannon Rowbury faces off with Christin Wurth-Thomas and Katie MacGregor plus a strong Ethiopian contingent.

Martin Fagan vs. Paul Tergat, Mary Cullen vs. Jelena Prokopcuka In Ireland Sunday *Tergat On Fagan: "A Very Strong Young Man" Andrew Carlson is also running.

Cherry Blossom Ten Miler In D.C.

The Berlin Half Marathon Is Also This Weekend

Florida Relays Feature Top Collegiate, Pro And HS Talent

The Return: Alan Webb Opening Season At Kansas Relays

Recommended Read: X-Man Working With Brooks Johnson To Get His Career Back On Track

Cool Piece On Private School Setup For Elite Distance Runners Remember this piece came out on April 1, 2009.

Biggest Jamaican Track Meet Taking Place Now

• Results From First Day Of Boys' And Girls' Jamaican Champs
• Big Money At Jamaica's Boys' And Girls' Champs

Sad News: Swede Legend Arne Andersson Dead At 91 *Another History Lesson - Andersson's Wikipedia

LRC April Fools Homepage Reactions Yesterday was our annual April Fools homepage and a lot of people fell for it including an FBI agent, a running agent, a journalist, a first time visitor to the site, a p***** off conservative, and some regulars. We didn't get any threats of lawsuits like in 2004, but the emails and anonymous phone calls were pretty funny. We recap them all.
In Case you Missed It: 2009 LetsRun.com April Fools Homepage

Track Never Takes A Break: Weekend Action:
*Fam And Other Olympians To Race Carlsbad 5k On April 5
*Check Out the Lineups For Sunday's Paris Marathon
*Texas Relays Preview
*Martin Fagan Returning Home For Great Ireland Run vs. Paul Tergat

*German Fernandez Is USATF Athlete Of The Week

Must Read
The Week That Was/ World XC Recap We break down World XC and wonder whether any American could have won the junior boys race, give props to Moses Kipsiro, tell you why the Kenyan system is broken, try to save World XC for the future, tell you why Dathan Ritzenhein's big XC win from 2005 may not have in reality been a big win, analyze how steep the course was and give you exclusive post-race interviews with Kim Smith, Ryan Gregson and Julie Culley. Plus we give you the scoop on the post-race party thrown by the Prince and the challenge Ryan Gregson issued German Fernandez.

Post-Race Video Interviews From World XC With Ryan Gregson, Julie Culley And Kim Smith

International News
*Recommended Read: The Observer Magazine Spends 4 Days With "The Dwain Event" In Turin It might be the best piece we've seen on Chambers and has some great quotes, including his thoughts on running for another country in 2012.
*Rating The Aussie Performances At Worlds
*France's World Junior Champ Teddy Tamgho Will Compete In Paris Golden League
*We Heart Throwers Too - Kiwi Valerie Vili's Online Journal
*Big Doping Scandal Going Down In Austria
*Read Up On The History Of the London Marathon Virgin is taking over for Flora next year as the sponsor of the biggest fundraising event in the world.

Interviews and Insight
*Geb Talks About His Hero Nelson Mandela
*Flotrack Kwik-E With UM's 3:58 Miler Justin Switzer This is a pretty entertaining interview with the avid Nascar fan.
*USA Indoor Champ David Torrence Blogs On Being Contract-Less

Kenya News
*Kenyans Upset With Young Athletes Being Lured To Bahrain
*Daniel Komen Kipchirchir And Asbel Kiprop Race 1,500m In Early Kenyan Meet
*Kenya Backs "Rio 2016" In Hopes Of "Nairobi 2020"

Oregon Duck News
*Duck Women Want Titles Just Like The Men
*Great Preview Of Oregon's Pepsi Team Invitational
*Check Out The First Outdoor NCAA Team Rankings

HS Action
*Day 2 Recap Of Jamaican Boys' And Girls' Championships
*In Case You Missed It: Hasay Opens Season With 4:47 1,600m

We Know Why You're Looking Forward To The Weekend: Sweet Races

• Cherry Blossom Ten Miler Is This Weekend
• USA Minnesota Sending A Few Runners To Road Races
• Awesome Carlsbad 5k Fields Announced
• Sweet Road Races On Both Coasts This Weekend
• W&M's Colonial Relays Are Here
• Vienna Marathon Elite Entrants Announced

Random Stuff That's Sort Of Linked To Running

• Michael Jordan Now Publically Supporting Chicago 2016 Bid
• Spanish Steeplechaser Jose Luis Blanco And Buddy Catch Thieves On Foot
• Seb Coe Revisits New Zealand, His Past, And Nick Willis' Chances At Gold
• Athletics Kenya Wants To Protect Athletes Who Are Lured To Bahrain and Qatar
• NCAA Rule Barring Legal Representation For Athletes Is Struck Down
• 2 Years Later, Athletes Get Paid By Keino Sports Marketing

3 Recommended Reads
1. History Lesson: Belayneh Densamo Recalls His 1988 World Record In Rotterdam That Stood For 10 Years "No, I don’t think we’ll ever see that. Maybe 2:02, 2:01 something, but under 2:00, I just don’t think any man can do that."
2. Pat Butcher On World Cross-Country And Why It Used To Matter "The only thing that can revive the corpse [world xc] is for the rest of the world to recognise, like the Americans have done, that there are no easy options or short cuts.  It's long, hard training. That’s all!
3. Edwin Moses Speaks Out On Drugs And Dwain Chambers

Not April Fools: Doug Logan And Mary Wittenberg Announce June 3rd As National Running Day
*USATF Press Release
*Interview With Virginia Brophy Achman - Twin Cities Marathon Race Director - About National Running Day

Brief Chat With Kate O'Neill

From our Australian Friends: What Is The "Trade Value" Of US Distance Runners?
*Video Interview With Australian Great Ron Clarke

Kristiansen, Moller And Cusack To Be Honored In Boston This Year

Jamaican News
*USA vs. Jamaica Sprint Meets To Start In 2010
*USA And Jamaica Agree To Sprint Clash
*Jamaica's Boys' And Girls' Athletics Championships Being Held This Week
*Preview Of Boys' and Girls' Champs In Jamaica
*Jamaican High Schools Win Big Money For Event Wins!