Welcome to the Chicago Athlete Express.
Great Information. Quick Read.

THE SCOOP
Congratulations to all the women who competed in this past weekend's U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials in St. Louis, MO. Chicagoland area family and friends traveled to St. Louis to cheer on 10th place overall and 1st masters finisher Jenny Spangler (Lake Villa), 2:36:30 and Kim Miltz (Hoffman Estates), 2:51:55.

A few post race quotes and notes: Colleen De Reuck: "You learn something in every marathon. I take every year as it comes . . . . this is just a dream come true." On her post race recovery: "I take four weeks off after my marathon to recover. The first week I won't do anything, I have a big chore list at home."

Deena Kastor: "She [Colleen De Reuck] passed me like a sprinter." And "I looked over my shoulder 12 times to see if there were any other Colleen's going by."

Jenny Spangler: "It was wonderful how supportive everybody was. They really carried me through to the finish."

Indiana Invaders' Heather May finished with a career best, 2:46:37 and pretty even half splits---1:23:02 and 1:23.35.

Kim Miltz: "It was cool being on the track with all of the women at the start. I was wondering how they were all going to fit." On the course: "It was a lot hillier than I thought it would be."

For complete trials coverage click here:
www.runningnetwork.com/features/uswomensolympic champs04list.html

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LASALLE BANK CHICAGO MARATHON UPDATE
Evans Rutto and Paul Koech will back to battle the Chicago roads this fall. For more, click here:
www.chicagoaa.com/news/chicagomarathon04ruttoko ech.html

The Illinois Chapter of the American Liver Foundation is putting together a Run for Research team as part of The 2004 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon(r). Last year, they raised more than $89,500 - all of which was invested in the fight against liver disease. Their goal this year is to get 100 runners and raise $100,000! For more information, call 312-377-9030 or check out:
www.illinois-liver.org

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APRIL FOOLS JOKE
Last week's "Closer" said we were going to be available on a subscription basis- if you clicked on the link you would have seen our "April Fools" note. We didn't mean to cause any panic. We're still FREE and available 10 times a year in your local specialty sports stores and health clubs.

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WATER IS ON - BUT YOU NEED TO TURN IT ON
The lakefront drinking fountains are on - but many have been updated to include a push button so they don't run continuously (thus, saving water!).

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HOWL AT THE MOON
The Park Forest Running & Pancake Club has their Moon Run tonight (Thur) at 7 p.m. It's free and distances vary. They invite runners to come out and "howl at the full moon with us!" For more information, check out:
www.lincolnnet.net/pfrpc ****************************************************************

THE WEEKEND AHEAD
Not too much happening this holiday weekend, but one event in Appleton, WI is the Bunny Hop 5K Run/Walk on Saturday. The Easter Bunny will make an appearance and they'll have an Easter egg hunt for the kids. For more information on this and all upcoming events, check out:
www.chicagoaa.com/calendar/smu.html

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MARK YOUR CALENDAR
On Saturday, April 17, the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation is offering on-bike training for kids at Dia del Nino, Mexican Fine Arts Center, UIC Pavilion. For more information contact Dave Glowacz at 312-427-3325x29 or via email at glow@biktraffic.org

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RACE RESULTS...
Swimming, cycling, running, triathlon CMSA State Meet Championships, John Fraser Memorial 10-mile Time Trial, Race That's Good For Life, Cross the Line at Northwoods, Chicago Lakefront 50K/George Cheung Memorial Race and more . . .
www.chicagoaa.com/results/searchable.html

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EVENT UPDATES
Date Change . . . The Great Western 30K has changed its date to Sunday, May 9, due to permit conflicts at the Kane County Forest Preserve District.

Accenture Chicago Triathlon - Closed As of Friday, March 26, the online registration closed for this event.

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RAFFLE WINNERS . . .
Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth at the Shamrock Shuffle Expo. Our raffle winners are: Jane Osa (Wadsworth, IL) and Ed Perez (Chicago, IL). Both will receive a LaSalle Bank Shamrock Shuffle duffle bag filled with some goodies.

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CLOSER
Chicago Athlete's April issue is out! You can find a copy at your favorite specialty retail running and or cycling store and local health clubs. Click here to read some of the Features:
www.chicagoaa.com/features/april2004featureslis t.html

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Wishing you the best in your training and racing!