THE SCOOP

Chris Wehrman will be representing himself, Chicago and Illinois on Saturday when he runs in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Birmingham, AL. Click on:
www.chicagoaa.com/news/usmensmarathontrials04wehrman.html

You can wish Chris good luck by posting a message on the Chicago Athlete Message Board. Click on:
www.chicagoaa.com/cgi-bin/messageboard/view.pl
Chicago Athlete editor Bob Richards will be in Birmingham, filing updates for the Running Network and the magazine.

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THE NEWS

U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk has earmarked $200,000 in this year's federal trans- por tation appropriations bll for the proposed trail connection through the Chicago Botanical Garden in Glencoe between the North Branch Trail and the Green Bay Trail. For more bike advocacy news, click on:
www.bikelib.org/index.htm

The Batavia Duathlon/Triathlon on Sunday, June 13 is the newest multisport event to hit the area. Both races will be sprint distance. Call 630-879-1424. No Web site is available yet for this race.

Rich Williams has been named Director of Operations for the Chicago Distance Classic. The Aug. 1 race, now a half-marathon, is owned and operated by John Bingham Racing. Williams was founding race director of the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon and a former operations director for the Columbus Marathon. for race information, visit:
www.chicagodistanceclassic.com

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THE RESULTS

Swiss visitor David Belz won the Northern Illinois Nordic XC Ski race on Saturday at Arrowhead Golf Club in Wheaton. Kielo Sauvala of Mt. Pros- pect led the women. "I was surprised at how fast [the race] was," Belz said. "I had fast skis so I could recover on the downhills. With 1K to go, I thought, 'It's now or never!' and I pulled ahead." For a photo gallery on this event, click on:
www.chicagoaa.com/features/NILnordic04photos.html

The husband-wife team of Todd and Lauren Jensen won the opening leg of the Midwest Indoor Tri Classic Series on Sunday at Edward Health & Fit- ness Center in Woodridge. The series continues on Feb. 15 in Wheaton.

There was another big rider turnout at the ABD Indoor Time Trial No. 2 in Wheaton. Reid Mumford of XXX Racing and Rebecca Much of XXX Racing- Athletico were fastest.

For full results of these and other events, click on:
www.chicagoaa.com/results/searchable.html

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THE WEEKEND AHEAD

Indoor track, running, masters swimming and more highlight this weekend's action. Check out the schedule:
www.chicagoaa.com/calendar/smu.html

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THE TV BEAT

You can watch the Verizon Millrose Games this Saturday from 2-3:30 p.m. on NBC Channel 5. The meet is part of USATF's Golden Spike Tour.

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THE CLOSER

It's not too early to start making plans for the last weekend in March. That's when The Subaru Chicago Bike Show & Family Fitness Expo AND The LaSalle Bank Shamrock Shuffle take place. Register soon for these fun events. For more on the Bike Show:
www.chicagobikeshow.com For more on the Shamrock Shuffle:
www.shamrockshuffle.com