Marathon Monday — it seems to be everyone’s favorite Monday in Massachusetts. This year, there is another reason to be excited for this day.

New Balance has designed a customized version of their heritage running shoe for the Boston Marathon. The show is called the Boston 993.

"This limited edition shoe will be available for men and women in colors inspired by the prestigious race such as black suede with lime contrast stitching for men and lake blue stitching for women. The shoes also feature the words/letters "RUN BOS" on the heels of the shoe," said Annie Pham Online Marketing and Public Relations person for New Balance. The tongue on the shoe also reads "NBoston".

The Boston 993 will be sold exclusively at The Tannery on Boylston Street and it retails for approximately $150. Only 72 total pairs have been created — 36 for men and 36 for women. So get yours while you can.

Do you remember that Iraqi guy who threw his shoes at President Bush? Remember how he was lauded as a national hero? Well, now he’s going to prison.

Muntader al-Zaidi, a journalist, was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison for the shoe throwing ordeal, charged with‚ aggression‚ towards a visiting head of state, a crime that carries a maximum 15 year jail sentence in Iraq.

Zaidi pleaded not guilty before Judge Abdulamir Hassan al-Rubaie, arguing that in that one moment, he was overcome with a brutal passion as he remembered the scores of civilians that had been killed in his home land, all because of Bush.

“I am innocent. It was a natural reaction to the crime of occupation…In that moment, I saw nothing but Bush, and I felt the blood of the innocents flowing under his feet while he was smiling that smile” he said at the hearing, according to the New York Times.

The trial was set to take place a while ago, but was postponed while the judge took time to decide whether or not Bush’s trip to Iraq was an official visit. Since Bush spoke in the Green Zone which is controlled by American Military, it could be argued that his visit was not official. The judge however decided that the‚ visit was official.

Zaidi was tried, oddly, in Iraq’s Central Criminal Court, a court set aside for major cases including terrorism. Zaidi’s lawyers – all 18 of them – said they would appeal the decision.

As Zaidi, who has been in prison since the incident, approached the courthouse before his hearing, scores of followers greeted him outside chanting “hero.”

It’s clear the Iraqi people don’t like the ruling.

Following in the footsteps of the guy who threw the shoe at Bush, a man at Cambridge University threw a runner at Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao during a speech there, though his aim was a lot worse, he missed Jiabao by about 30 feet, according to the Times.

The man blew a whistle during the speech, causing Jiabao to look up, after which he began yelling.‚ Police escorted the offender out of the hall, however not before he shouted “how can you listen to the lies he’s telling?” into TV cameras. The man, who is not Chinese, also called Jiabao a dictator before he was removed from the hall.

Witnesses describe the man as a “goateed European in his 20s or 30s speaking foreign-accented English.”‚ 

The altercation took place on the final day of Jiabao’s three-day visit to the UK. Jiabao spoke with Prime Minister Gordon Brown about a possible increase in trade between the two countries.

Human rights groups picketed outside the university before the speech, protesting China’s treatment of Tibet.

On a completely unrelated note, I wrote a post yesterday about some sea explorers who uncovered the remains of a 1744 shipwreck in the English Channel.‚ 

Today, I got an email from a woman named Shelley Kapitulik, who works for a PR firm in New York called Trylon SMR. She informed me that the team who uncovered the shipwreck was the subject of a documentary, which caused some stir in the archeology community.

Apparently Odyssey Marine’s methods of exploration raise some ethical questions in the archeology community.

She invited me to give her a call to find out more, which I will. So that’ll be coming soon.

This Iraqi journalist takes off both his shoes and whips them right at Bush during a press conference in Iraq. Before he hurled them, he yelled “this is a farewell kiss, you dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.” He was arrested right after the toss.

Props to Bush for dodging those things like a pro.

Shoes are pretty taboo in the Arab world. ‚ People won’t even cross their legs in an ankle-on-knee fashion in a public place, for fear of insulting the person beside them.

There was a photo of Bush a while ago, in an Iraqi city, where someone had placed two shoes at the top of his head to indicate devil horns.

And now, experts are telling the public “throwing a shoe at someone’s face is considered an insult in Islam.” As opposed to in America, where it is a sign of affection.

So El Presidente, for Iraqi’s (and some Americans, too), this guy is a hero. People are protesting for his release.

Palestinian journalists are now asking who will be brave enough to hurl a shoe at Condoleezza Rice. ‚ We’ll see if she can duck as well as Bush.