LetsRun.com

LRC Week That Was: The world of marathoning may have changed forever this week and we give you all the analysis. Kenya had 13 people go sub 2:09 in a single day, the US has had 6 ever. Not to mention an 18 year old (Ethiopian) running 2:06 and a 21 year-old running 2:05. Plus, we tell you about the best coach you've never heard of (Claudio Berardelli), give you an update on junior star Feyisa Lilesa, and show you why Mondo tracks aren't the solution to Kenyan domination. Plus an update on the rest of the weekend action.

Americans In Action

• Sally Meyerhoff's 54:38 At Cherry Blossom Breaks American 10-Mile Record For Women's-Only Race
• Bauhs On First LRC "Quote Of the Day" And Carlsbad "Annihilation"

Rotterdam: Duncan Kibet Edges James Kwambai In Thrilling (And Fast) Rotterdam Marathon
This race had it all - fast times, a thrilling finish ... and US television coverage! James Kwambai (who had battled Gebrselassie deep into his 2:03:59 world record run last year in Berlin) and Duncan Kibet (a 2:07 marathoner who came to life yesterday on LetsRun.com thanks to a video from his agent from the Netherlands' version of LetsRun, which you can see on the right hand column on this home page) battled step-for-step at a blistering pace, dropping half marathon star Patrick Makau in his debut. Kwambai pulled ahead the final 500m and appeared to have it won, but then Kibet put on a furious charge to pass Kwambai in the final 10 meters to get in the win in a stunning 2:04:27. Yes, 2:04:27 for both men. This letsrun.com message boarder was right when he posted yesterday, "Expect a couple 204s in rotterdam tomorrow, maybe even wr!" and saying, "All these guys running under an hour in the half are going to make 206 look as commonplace as under an hour has become. The marathon is finally starting to get as fast as it should be based on the the 5k and 10k in recent years by the africans."
*Video Of Race The last 5 minutes (well, 1 minute) is a must. You can skip around and Ed Eyestone is on the commentary.

Cathy Freeman Getting Married In Top Secret Wedding On Easter

US Track Action

Texas Relays: *Results *Video
*Texas Relays Recap (Andra Mason Takes Crack At American Record In High Jump)
*Destinee Hooker Jumps World Leader In HJ Then Gets Engaged At Texas Relays
*Texas Produces A High School Prodigy, Craig Lutz The sophomore ran 9:03 for the 3,200m win and ran 30:46 for 10k on the roads last week.

Florida Relays: *Results
*Demps Helps UF Pass Competition
*Florida Wins Six Events To Conclude Florida Relays
*Video

Oregon Duck News
*Oregon Men Lose 800, 1,500 And Steeple & Meet To Indiana
*Duck Women Want Titles Just Like The Men
*Video From Meet
*Great Preview Of Oregon's Pepsi Team Invitational
*Check Out The First Outdoor NCAA Team Rankings

Seb Coe's New Book Coming April 16th

Coe On Rivalries:

The book looks interesting and is causing Seb to do a series of pieces and videos online. Three below"
*Seb Coe Writes (And Talks On Video) In Detail About the Olympics, His Rivalry With Ovett, And The Need For Rivalries In The Sport
*Great Seb Coe Interview His father's boat was sunk in WWII and he escaped from German captivity.
*Seb Coe Writes (And Talks On Video) About His Coach (His Dad) And Coaching Youngsters Today

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

Surprise! Germany's Sabrina Mockenhaupt Won The Berlin Half Marathon Might be the only [major] race all weekend won by a non-Kenyan or Ethiopian.

LRC Boards: Amazing Information From Renato Canova On Training Of Rotterdam Winner Duncan Kibet And Runner-Up James Kwambai

World Cross Country Stories
*A Closer Look At World CC Champ Gebremariam and Countrywoman Gelete Dibaba
*Florence Kiplagat Completes Perfect Cross Country Season With Win In Italy Kiplagat's husband Moses Mosop dominated the men's 10k by 32 seconds over world 6th placer Matthew Kisorio. Mosop won the Kenyan CC trials but couldn't kick with the best in Amman, finishing only 11th!
*IAAF Struggling To Find World XC Sponsors, It Might Fade To Once Every 2 Years *Update: Isaiah Kiplagat's Report On IAAF XC Going Biennial May Be Premature

Now The 4th Fastest Marathoner Ever (behind Kibet and Kwambai), Tergat's Next Task Will Be Berlin 25k In May *Fagan Said He Felt Flat And Terrible Despite Almost Taking Down Great Ireland Run Paul Tergat was only 1 second ahead of Martin Fagan in Ireland. Tergat is really pumped, Fagan in the dumps.

Brazil's Kleberson Davide Runs 1:44.67, 6th Fastest South American Of All-Time With all the attention on the marathons this weekend, Kleberson Davide turned some heads with a blazing 800m run.

Ho Hum: Paris Vincent Kipruto Wins Paris Marathon In 2:05:47 As 6 Go Under 2:07 (A Record) And 11 Under 2:09 (A Record) This may be known as the weekend marathoning changed forever. You run a 2:08 and you finish outside of the top 10 in a "B" level marathon. Kipruto is just 21 23 years old.
Message Board Thread: 21 23 year old Kenyan runs 2:05 at Pari  (Tim Hutchings, the commentator for the race emailed us to say that Kipruto told him in perfect English he is 23, despite what the IAAF recap says)

More Weekend Road Action

Carlsbad 5k: Results *Photos
Recap: Ethiopian 2007 World Champs member Aheza Kiros held off American Shannon Rowbury for the win on the women's side. On the men's side, Daba Bekana edged Ethiopian compatriot Abreham Cherkos. Cherkos had run a blazing fast 13:07 indoors in Prague in February. Anthony Famiglietti led the US charge in 6th place as Marc Davis' American record of 13:24 from 1996 still stands.

Great Ireland Run
Rui Silva Over Tergat Over 10k The veteran Tergat was pleased with his 28:46 clocking, only 1 second behind Silva, just one month after his Lake Biwa win. Ireland's Martin Fagan was 3rd 1 second back and Portugal's Ana Dulce-Felix won the women's side.

Washington DC Cherry Blossom: Recap
Ridouane Harroufi of Morocco and Lineth Chepkurui of Kenya successfully defended their crowns. Sally Meyerhoff ran an American best and Catherine Ndereba was fifth in 54:27. *Results

Berlin: Bernard Kipyego Runs 59:34 In His Debut Half Marathon, Sabrina Mockenhaup Clocks 68:45 IAAF

Milan: Stramilano Half Marathon Recap IAAF

Jamaican HS Champs *Results

• Recommended Read: Behind The Scenes At The Jamaican Boys & Girls Athletics Championships 38,000-plus in the stands and 1.2 million out of a population of 2.8 million will watch it on television.
• Recap Of Final Day Of Jamaican Champs IAAF
• Recap Of 2nd-To-Last Day At Jamaican Champs
• National Jr. Record Holder Kemoy Campbell Runs Meet Record Of 3:48 In 1,500
• 2nd Article On Campbell, Who Ran 3:42 Last Year - He Wants the Jamaican 5k Record As Well The record is only 14:45 and he says he can do 14:37-9. We think he can go way faster.
• World Junior And Youth Champion Dexter Lee Wins 100m In 10.31

News From Kenya

AK Meeting #3: Asbel Kiprop Strolls To Victory In 1,500 The Olympic silver medallist was in the news for the wrong reasons earlier in the week, but this time he got an easy victory from the front in 3:40 on the dirt track in a meet which was ended early as a Kenyan football match needed to be played. Daniel Komen and Paul Koech didn't show for the final.
Comments On The Modern Day "SlaveTrade"
Athletics Kenya Trying To Get More Guys To Renounce Bahrain Passports
*Column: Young Athletes Shouldn't Suffer In Arab States Kenyans aren't even given citizenship - only Arab speakers get it apparently.

Bolt: "I'll work to be a legend of my sport." He says he's only at 60% right now, which is crazy as he's already run 9.93.
*Bolt Responds To Dwain Chambers' Talk

Recommended Reads/Clicks

History Lesson: Belayneh Densamo Recalls His 1988 World Record In Rotterdam That Stood For 10 Years

Edwin Moses Speaks Out On Drugs And Dwain Chambers

Ryan Hall Interview With Running Times "You gotta choose your battles. So for me, that battle is the marathon in Boston."

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