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LRC April Fools Homepage Reactions Yesterday was our annual April Fool's 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

Constantina Dita To Remain With Asics Through 2012

Macharia And Tulu Headline Nagano Marathon Elite Entrants

Star Asbel Kiprop Kicked Out Of Kip Keino's Camp Kiprop, 20, has apparently been bringing his lady into camp.

Women Track Stars In The News

• Natlia Dobrynskya Udates Her Online Journal
• Botswana's Amantle Montsho Wins Sportsperson Of The Year
• Kelly Sotherton Talks About Having Guts To Win
• Double Olympic Champ Kelly Holmes On Her New Post-Athletic Pursuits
• Steph Twell In Tears After Amman Letdown

World XC *Results *LRC Photos *Race Video
*Live Message Board Updates
Recaps/Results:
Men: Gebre Gebremariam Gets Gold The men's finish was crazy. The final 600-800m is straight uphill and there were close to 15 guys in contention. Gebremariam timed it perfectly and bolted to his first world title. Gebremariam was a world junior champ in 2002 and in 2004 was runner-up to the great Bekele in both the long course and short course races. The Kenyan men did beat the Ethiopians on the tiebreaker for the team title, but they did not get the one title they want most, the men's individual champion, which unbelievably they have not won for 11 years. OSU's Ryan Vail led the US men. *Results

Women: Florence Kiplagat, Kenya Women Win Kiplagat blew by Linet Masai on the brutal uphill finish for the win and the team title. Masai had been clear of the field an looked to be on the way to the title. Julie Culley was the 1st American in 21st. *Women's Results

Junior Men: Ayele Abshero And Kenya Abshero of Ethiopia got the individual win, but the Kenyan men battled back for the team title. German Fernandez was a very respectable 11th, with Chris Derrick 15th and Luke Puskedra 30th. The highly-touted US men (with 2 frosh who were top 7 at NCAA XC, plus German Fernandez) were 5th. *Junior Men Results

Junior Women Genzebe Dibaba And Ethiopia Win The third Dibaba sister, Genzebe, came out on top, as the Ethiopian women beat Kenya on the tiebreaker. The UK had 2 in the top 15. Neely Spence, daughter of former World Champs marathon bronze medallist, Steve, was 19th. *Results

LRC In Amman Friday Update #2: The Press Conference & German's Injury Fernandez had a shining debut press conference as he was introduced as the star of the indoor season and came across as a class act committed to doing all he can for the USA. He is in a boot but going to compete. Plus an interview with US junior girls #1 Neely Spence (Read Her 4 Blogs From Amman - Locals Yell To Her: "Go Blondie!") and confirmation that world record holder Stephen Cherono both visits LetsRun.com and is impressed by German. *Photos: The Press Conference
*MB Thread: Fernandez is in a boot but running

World XC Video: Interviews With Some Of America's Stars Who says "dreams don't become reality?" Ed Moran ran over 25 minutes for his first 5k, now he's representing America. Julie Culley gave up her dream to coach, now she's representing America. Plus an interview with NCAA 5k champ Bobby Curtis.

Friday Update #1: The Course Is "Brutal" Rojo has returned from the Friday morning course tour and it's certainly going to be a challenge. Kim Smith called it "brutal." A 200 meter uphill start followed by a narrow, sharp turn, followed by 600 meters downhill. Then you gotta go back up and repeat several times. *Photos: The Course (and Fernandez running on it)

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'Neil

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!

Kenya News

• Kenyan Coach Kirwa Truly Disappointed That Individual Victories Slipped Away
• Economic Downturn Is Hurting Some Kenyan Runners For The Time Being

Guardian Laments Pace Of Changes At UK Athletics And Poor World XC Showing For British Athletes

Glimpse At Formidable April 5th Fortis Rotterdam Marathon Lineup And Some Road Results From The Weekend

IOC Issues Statement In Support Of WADA's Whereabouts Rule

Scientists Claim Each Human Has A Perfect Running Pace Rojo's current ideal pace is about 9:00/mile.

International Results

• Micah Kogo Breaks 10k World Best In Brunssum Holland Kogo got the bronze at 10k last year at the Olympics and had run 27:07 on the roads in 2006.
• Prague Half Marathon Report (Course Records Fall)
• Deena Kastor Wins Over Tera Moody In Her Return
• Ethiopians Dominate Ukrop's 10k -Dan Browne 4th In 28:50
• S. Africa Caster Semenya's Bid To Break 2 Comes Up Short As She Runs 2:05 For 800

LRC: Stanford Invite Distance Carnival Recap
*Results Arkansas' Shawn Forrest got a dominating 5k win in 13:28 over US Olympian Jonathan Riley (13:38). Olympians Jen Rhines (4:18.96) and Ian Dobson (3:46.36) and NCAA 5k champ Chris Solinsky (3:43.36) all ran and lost. 2004 Olympian Kate O'Neill won the 10k in 33:02.

African News From Worlds

• Profile On Florence Kiplagat, Kenya's First World XC Female Champ In 15 Years (And A Recent Mother)
• Kenyan Newspaper Article: Defectors, Traitors Bite The Dust
• Profile On Junior World XC Champ Ayele Abshero (His Brother Is A 2:08 Marathoner)

Non-Africans At World XC

• Japanese Junior Women Take 3rd At Worlds
• Portugal Got Only European Medal At World XC
• Stephanie Twell Turns To The Track After Sub-Par Performance At World XC
• Ian Stewart Says UK Needs To Focus On Track To Do Better At World XC

Just Do It: Pole Vaulter Romain Mesnil, Dropped By Nike, Runs Through Streets Of Paris Naked With (Vaulting) Pole To Attract New Sponsor

Usain Bolt Donates Fire Equipment To Jamaican Schools

Chicago 2016? USOC And IOC To Meet Over Olympic Bid Word is Chicago's bid is in some trouble after the USOC shake-up and the economic meltdown. Chicago is the only city whose bid is largely sponsored by private companies - private companies whose cash flow has significantly diminished.

More World XC News

• Florence Kiplagat Wins World XC, Passes Out The Nation.co.ke
• Proof Kenyans Want Men's Individual Title The Most: Kenyan Paper Talks About Men's Race In Very Negative Light They did win the men's team title.
• Editorial: What Does The Future Hold For World XC? East African Standard
• Quotes From Team USA From World XC