Robert Cheruiyot is becoming the lance armstrong of the Boston Marathon.

On Monday, the Kenyan won the Patriots Day event for the fourth time in six years…not quite as impressive as Armstrong’s seven straight tour de france wins maybe, but still damn good.

Cheruiyot’s run clocked in at 2:07:06, better than second place Abderrahime Bouramdane of Morocco and third place Khalid El Boumlili, also of Morocco.

It’s the dream of every Moroccan runner, by the way, for jokes about Kenyan marathon runners to become jokes about Moroccan ones.

Dire Tune? No, has nothing to do with “Sultans of Swing”…it’s the name of the Ethiopian woman who won this year’s Boston Marathon.

Tune prevailed by just two seconds over Alevtina Biktimirova, who sounds like she should either be a tennis player or an eye-chart. Tune’s time was 2:25:25. She and Biktimirova had the closest finish on the women’s side in marathon history. Tune nearly blew it for herself by momentarily taking a wrong turn toward the end.

(Editor’s Note: I realize Tune’s name is pronounced “Deer-ay Toon-ay”, but pronouncing it like “Dire Straits Tune” without the Straits is just cooler.)

(picture: ESPN/AP)

lance armstrong demonstrated his toughness indisputably by a) surviving ball-cancer; b) winning the tour de france 40 times in a row, and; c) enduring Sheryl Crow for an extended period.

So, it wasn’t like Lance had anything left to prove on the fortitude front. But just for kicks he has decided to become a marathon runner.

Lance competed in Monday’s Boston Marathon, and finished in 2:50:58…not as good as his finish in the New York Marathon last year when he clocked in at 2:46:43.

Note that Lance ran wearing a yellow shirt. He feels very comfortable in yellow.

(picture: Yahoo!/Reuters)

Boston red sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury’s girlfriend Kelsey Hawkins is also an athlete. She is running in the Boston Marathon, which kicked off Monday morning.

Ms. Hawkins is obviously very fit…and also insane, as all people are who run in marathons. Honestly, the only way you’d get me to run 26.2 miles is if you told me the last box of Chips Ahoy on earth was located 26.2 miles away and there were no cars, bicycles, horses, trains, tricycles, Big Wheels, dog-sleds, scooters or anything else that could get me there.

Actually, even then I’d probably just say the hell with it. Oreos are just as good, especially the double-decker ones, which should come with a Surgeon General’s warning the same as cigarettes.

(picture: Bitten and Bound)

Here’s something a lot of people never thought they’d live to see…Bill Buckner throwing out the first pitch at Fenway Park.

Yes, I said Bill Buckner throwing out the first pitch at Fenway Park. Two World Series titles later and apparently red sox Nation has decided to forgive the former pariah.

So there is, after all, hope for the exiled. Hear that Bartman?

(picture: Yahoo!/AP)

Nets star Jason Kidd is once again in the wrong kind of court battle now that a model is suing him for pawing her in a Manhattan nightclub. The 23-year-old beauty, who is not identified in the suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, says the hoops hotshot repeatedly grabbed her **** and backside in an Oct. 10 visit to Tenjune, a Meatpacking District hotspot.”Jason Kidd is another athlete who is out of control,” said the woman’s lawyer, Russell Adler. “Just because he is a famous basketball player does not give him the right to do this to any woman.” A lawyer for Kidd ripped the suit as “a brazen and defamatory search for a payout.”

New York Daily News

It just won’t die. Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Friday the Jets never requested permission to use an extra video camera in last season’s playoff game in Foxborough, directly contradicting Eric Mangini’s explanation of the events. “I was never asked for permission nor was anyone in our video department asked for permission for a second end-zone camera,” Belichick told NBCSports.com. Evidently, someone isn’t telling the truth. Mangini, responding to published reports Wednesday that said a Jets cameraman was stopped from taping, said the team received approval from the Patriots to shoot from both end zones.

New York Daily News

Very tragic news from New York as elite runner Ryan Shay passed away during the US Olympic Marathon Trials. This was supposed to be a day of national attention for a growing sport - instead, it will be remembered as something far different. This is a very real reminder that even the most athletic and fit individuals are vulnerable to such tragedies. As noted on SportsWrap before, I have participated in swim meets and events where such occurrences have happened - and the individuals have also been in excellent shape. Just awful news and our thoughts go out to Ryan’s teammates, family and friends.

From ESPN: Top distance runner Ryan Shay died during the U.S. men’s Olympic marathon trials Saturday, overshadowing what was supposed to be a showcase day for the sport.

Shay collapsed about 5½ miles into the race and was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:46 a.m., New York Road Runners president Mary Wittenberg said. He was 28.

“It cuts a knife through everybody’s hearts,” said Wittenberg, whose group organized the race….

Shay was a favorite going into the 2004 trials but was hampered by a hamstring strain and finished 23rd. He was a five-time national road racing champion, winning the 2003 U.S. marathon, 2003 and 2004 half-marathon, 2004 20k and 2005 15k.

“If you probably asked him if there was any way he wanted to go, it was out on the race course,” said Terrence Mahon, who coached Shay at Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

Here at SportsWrap - we love the 40 yard dash. Hell, we love it so much that we are officially trying out for the San Jose Sabercats and have been posting our own 40 yard dash workouts.

Interestingly, we aren’t far off the time that former speedster and #3 draft pick Charlie Rogers ran for the Kansas City Chiefs. Rogers, who ran a 4.28 40 when he worked out in 2003 for the Detroit Lions has been searching for an NFL home and worked out for the Chiefs… running a 4.83!!!! At wide receiver, that simply doesn’t cut it and the Chiefs thought it was reason enough to cut Rogers on the spot:

The Kansas City Chiefs worked out Charles Rogers Friday. The same #1 draft pick Charles Rogers, who at the 2003 combine or pro day, allegedly ran a 4.28….According to reports, Charles clocked in at 4.83 in the 40, and the Chiefs terminated the workout. See, cuz three of the Chiefs D-linemen can run a sub 4.8. More at Deadspin.

Put that in perspective - Maurice Clarrett got railed for running a 4.82:

As I’ve written before, SportsWrap is a huge Alan Webb fan - after all, I swam with Alan back in my days on Curl Burke Swimming is high school. Few people know that Alan was nationally ranked breaststroker before he pursued running full time. Apparently it worked out very nicely! 3:46 is blistering and the fastest time ever run by an American - in an event that used to be the premier track and field event. USA Track and Field reports:

Three-time U.S. 1,500m champion Alan Webb on Saturday broke the American record in the mile, clocking 3:46.91 at the Atletiek Vlaanderenmeet in Brasschaa, Belgium. The mark breaks the record of 3:47.69 set by National Track & Field Hall of Famer Steve Scott in 1982 and makes Webb the eighth-fastest man in history, behind Hicham El Guerrouj, Noah Ngeny, Noureddine Morceli, Steve Cram, Daniel Komen, Venuste Niyongabo and Said Aouita.

Webb’s agent, Ray Flynn, reports unofficial quarter-mile splits for Webb during the race as 56.1, 57.4, 56.8 and 56.2.

Held on a 6-lane track, Saturday’s race is part of a career-best year for Webb. In February, he won his first U.S. indoor title in the mile before going on a tear during the outdoor season. On April 28, he ran 3:51.71 to break Scott’s mile record at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. On June 24 in Indianapolis, he ran 3:34.82 in the 1,500 to break Scott’s meet record at the AT&T USA Outdoor Championships, where Webb won his third career national title.