Quote Of The Day

"German Fernandez, LetsRun.com, German Fernandez, LetsRun.com."

- World record holder in the steeplechase, Saif Shaheen (Stephen Cherono) at the IAAF press conference upon seeing US stud German Fernandez. Fernandez was introduced as the "sensation of the indoor season" (which apparently is true due to Shaheen's reaction). Fernandez finished 11th at today's World XC  junio champs. More LRC coverage coming from Amman.

World XC *Results *Live Message Board Updates
Quick Recaps/Results :
Men:
Gebre Gebremariam Gets Gold
The men's finish was crazy. The final 600-800m is straight up hill 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. *Results
Women: Florence Kiplagat, Kenya Women Win Kiplagat blew by Linet Masai on the brutal uphill finish for the win and the team title. *Women's Results
Junior Men: Ayele Abshero and Kenya 
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 XCs and German Fernandez) were 5th. *Jr 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. *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)

Rojo Interviews The US Team/Sees German Fernandez Running


The photo above (of German Fernandez running in Jordan) should put to rest all the fears that America's new wonderkid won't race at the World XC Champs on Saturday in Jordan. LetsRun.com's Rojo had dinner with the US team and has video interviews with two runners who have definitely seem their dreams become reality (Ed Moran and Julie Culley) and NCAA 5k champ (Bobby Curtis).
Rojo's Blog: Installment #4: "In America, Everyone Is Alone"
LetsRun.com's Rojo chronicles his journeys in Jordan. We highly recommend his blog installment #1.
*Latest Photo Gallery US, Kenyan, Ethiopian, and Australian teams in training, plus some Dead Sea photos.

Wejo Responds To Criticism Of Letsrun's Lisbon/Kara Goucher Coverage Plus a correction to our article.

Excellent Read
LRC Is In Amman Rojo: The Flight And Day 1 *Photos
Rojo's in the Middle East and already having a great time. In his first blog, he talks about wishing he were Canadian, getting pulled over by the cops, driving backwards on a highway, picking up a hitchhiker and trying to talk Bobby Curtis out of taking a cab to Iraq.

Stanford Meet: 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.

Tons More World XC News

*Kenya Team Kenya "Very Confident"
*Fernandez's OSU Teammate Daniel Watts Writes A Firsthand Account On His Incredible Teammate
*Kenya Ready For Clean Sweep - Great Photo
*Article On Kenyans Like Hilda Kibet Competing For Other Countries
*Kenya's 2009 Team May Be Best Ever
*USA OK State's Fernandez and Vail Ready For Worlds
*US Junior Women's Team Names Neely Spence Captain
*Worlds USA Today Runs Another World XC Story (AP)
*Great NY Times Article On Jordan's Attempt To Host More Big Sporting Events, Starting With World XC
*Jordan Official: We're Ready To Put On A Great Event
*Kingdom Of Jordan Welcomes World Championships
*More
Kenneally And Byrne To Represent Ireland In Amman
*Steph Twell Carries England's XC Hopes
*Nice Article On Ryan Gregson From Australian Paper
*Bahrain And Qatar Looking To End African Dominance ... With Africans

Jeremy Wariner Profile In Dallas Morning News: Wariner Not Used To Being #2 He still doesn't want to hear it, but we'll repeat it: he never should have switched coaches in 2008.

Around The World
*Austrian Triathlon Champion Speaks Out After Caught Doping: "You Have To Lie"
*Baddeley Ready To Face The Africans (Not In Amman, Though)
*Interview With Olympic Champ Valerie Vili's Coach
*Ridiculous: Liu Xiang May Be Sued By Accident Victim Because He Endorsed The Car

Kenyans Love XC: "We have been working on team tactics and we know how we will play around with the opposition in Amman." - Florence Kiplagat in a great article about her career, life, marriage and training.

Stanford Invite Heats Are Up Distance stuff is Friday night.

*Great Interview With American Mid-D Star And Brown Alum Anna Willard Her new coach Terrence Mahon thinks she has great potential in the steeple and 1,500m and we agree. It sounds like they are a great match.
*Brief Chat With Villanova's Indoor NCAA 5k Runner-Up Frances Koons
*Steve Hooker Talks About Returning To His Roots

Chambers Invited To Dutch Meet
*Quote From Dutch Meet Director On Dwain Chambers

WADA Says Soccer Heads Are Ignoring Reality Of Drugs In Sport

Fantastic Read On Living Legend Roger Bannister On His 80th Birthday

Good Interview With Irish Half Marathon National Record Holder And Providence Alum Martin Fagan *In case you missed it: Fagan And Carlson Will Head To Ireland Next Weekend To Race Tergat

Excited For World XC At LetsRun.com
*10 Years After Tergat Last Won Senior 12km XC Gold For Kenya, Teams Fly Out With High Hopes It's hard to believe a Kenyan man hasn't won the long course XC title since Paul Tergat.
*Don't Worry, The XC Course In Amman, Jordan Was Rerouted To Avoid An Ant Hill!
*2010 Cross-Country Worlds To Be Held In Poland And More Announcements From IAAF Meeting
*IAAF's World Cross-Country Page

LRC's The Week That Was We do our best to cover a busy week in track and field: Free training advice from Ryan Hall, Kara Goucher wins, why a toilet is a genius marketing move, 95-year-olds kicking butt, and a Japanese legend retires. Plus, water cooler talk from Canadian runners on the plane to Amman and more.

LRC In Amman Analyzing German Fernandez's Chances For A Medal: History Says He'll Have His Hands Full Rojo breaks down the junior field in great depth. While the odds are stacked against Fernandez, Rojo reveals that Fernandez did catch a huge break as Ethiopia has decided to run a guy who almost certainly would be the favorite for the win in the men's senior race. Plus another 13:25 junior isn't running either!!! *Photos
On the boards: Junior World Cross Country Championships - Make Your Predictions for Our 3 Young Studs Here, & Gregson Too!

LRC World XC Coverage

Friday: The Press Conference, German Fernandez and His Injury and Saif Shaheen The world record holder Shaheen apparently has caught Fernandez mania saying, "German Fernandez, LetsRun.com, German Fernandez, LetsRun.com. Surreal.

Thursday:
Rojo Interviews The US Team / Sees German Fernandez Running Story plus video interviews with Bobby Curtis, Ed Moran, and Julie Culley.
*Installment #4: "In America, Everyone Is Alone"

Wednesday: Analyzing German Fernandez's Chances For A Medal: History Says He'll Have His Hands Full

Tuesday:
Rojo's Blog: The Flight And Day 1 A fascinating read on driving backwards down the highway, US team member Bobby Curtis possibly taking a cab to Iraq, 11 espressos, and much more.
Photos: *Photos Of The Teams Practicing *Rojo's Blog Photos

Our Top 4 Running Events Of The Weekend

1. World XC - #1 by a long-shot.
2. Stanford Invitational - Collegiates and pros go for early season PBs.
3. Shamrock Shuffle 8k - The return of Deena.
4. Ukrop's Monument Avenue
(10k)
Did we miss anything big?

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