Fast Break

Running

Doomsday ranked No. 4

Bloomsday’s not quite king of the hill when it comes to daunting climbs.

Since there’s not a Top 10 for everything yet, Runner’s World magazine ranked the 10 toughest climbs in road racing – with Spokane’s Doomsday Hill coming in at No. 4. The slog up Pettet Drive, which comes not quite 5 miles into the 12-kilometer Lilac Bloomsday Run, charts a 145-foot rise.

Not that it’s a challenge for everyone. Seven-time women’s champion Anne Audain recalled, “I used to run a 5-mile uphill climb at 5,000-feet altitude once a week. After those runs, Doomsday Hill was a breeze.”

To no one’s surprise, the Boston Marathon’s Heartbreak Hill was ranked No. 1, followed by the Hayes Street Hill 2 miles into San Francisco’s Bay to Breakers Run.

Baseball

Boss, Murcer on the mural

A mural across the street from Yankee Stadium has grown to include two familiar faces: George Steinbrenner and Bobby Murcer. The likenesses of Steinbrenner and the late Murcer were added Thursday, just days before the final game at the old ballpark.

Helping with the effort was Ray Negron, who has a little experience with graffiti and the Yankees. He was a trouble-making high school kid in 1973 when he spray-painted a piece of graffiti on a wall at Yankee Stadium and got caught by Steinbrenner.

But Steinbrenner made Negron bat boy for that night’s game. He went on to become Steinbrenner’s special assistant and still works for the Boss to this day.

World Cup soccer

Laborers get free tickets

South African workers building the 2010 World Cup stadiums will get two free tickets to games.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter made the announcement after visiting stadiums in various stages of completion this week. He wants the more than 20,000 workers to “bear witness to a South African dream they have been so central in realizing.”