Nine days before her first time tackling Philadelphia's Broad Street Run, Tolbert, a 37-year-old trade specialist, went to Philadelphia Runner to buy a new pair of running shoes. Before pulling out shoes for Tolbert to try on, the saleswoman, Liz Foster, asked her to take a walk so she could evaluate her gait. Foster, who is a serious runner herself, agrees that comfort is the overriding factor.

But she rejects the notion that shoes do not prevent injuries. "Anecdotally, I've seen a lot of injuries from bad shoes," she says. Runners who come to her complaining of knee and ankle pain get the proper shoes and return six months later feeling better. "Try these," she says, loosening the laces on a pair of Sauconys for Tolbert. "This is going to feel much different." For 10 weeks, Tolbert had been training for the race in Adidas Energy Boosts, which she'd bought online after getting recommendations from fellow members of her running group, Black Girls Run.

But then her ankles started hurting. After trying on half a dozen brands and styles and testing them on the store's treadmill, Tolbert chose a pair of Mizuno Wave Paradoxes. "I bought them," Tolbert says, "because they felt the most comfortable."

"I think it's very, very difficult in these situations, obviously very difficult," Kerry said.

"You have people who've come out of tunnels. You have a right to go in and take out those tunnels. We completely support that. And we support Israel's right to defend itself against rockets that are continuing to come in. Hamas has started this process of rocketing, after Israel was trying to find the people who killed three young -- you know, one American kid, three young Israeli citizens. It's disgraceful," Kerry said."It’s tough to have this kind of operation. I reacted obviously in a way that ... anybody does with respect to young children and civilians.

"But war is tough, and I've said that publicly and I've said it again. We defend Israel's right to do what it is doing in order to get at those tunnels," Kerry said.Kerry then urged Hamas to "step up and be reasonable and understand that you accept the cease-fire, you save lives."

Kerry traveled to Cairo early Monday for crisis talks on Gaza, following President Barack Obama's call for an "immediate ceasefire" between Israelis and Palestinians in the conflict.

Lil Buck is literally a mover and a shaker. The 26-year-old dancer is the self-titled "ambassador" of Jookin, a footwork-heavy dance style that evolved from Gangsta Walking, popularized on the streets of Memphis, Tenn., about 30 years ago.

"I think people fall in love with it because it's a joyous dance," he says. It's easy to pick up on Lil Buck's own joy, whether he's seemingly gliding on air in slow motion or simply speaking about what Jookin means to him as a form of expression.

Lil Buck, born Charles Riley, first learned of Jookin after watching his older sister dance in their Memphis living room when he was 11. He soon devoted all of his energy to developing his own dance style, strengthening his core moves through two years of classical ballet training. When he was 19, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue dance as a career, initially performing on the street to make ends meet.

Now, he's bringing a new energy into today’s dance scene. I caught up with Lil Buck at the Aspen Ideas Festival last week in Colorado, where he and former New York City Ballet dancer Damian Woetzel led a conversation on arts education. Buck's enthusiasm for movement is contagious, so it's no wonder that his session ended with the entire audience breaking into dance. Just a few minutes into our interview, he already had me on my feet.

A woman said Monday that she was expelled from a private, Christian college in suburban Oklahoma City because she married her same-sex partner. Christian Minard, 22, said she received a letter last week from Southwestern Christian University notifying her of the expulsion after returning from her honeymoon in Las Vegas. Minard said she did not know how the university learned of her March 17 marriage in Albuquerque, New Mexico, though she did say she posted her marriage license on Facebook. "I'm not friends with anyone from my university.

And there have been pictures of us because we've been in relationship for 3½ years, and no one ever said word," Minard said. University Academic Vice President and Provost Connie Sjoberg said Minard had been a student at the school in the Oklahoma City suburb of Bethany but no longer was. She said federal privacy laws kept her from providing details. "We are limited in what we can discuss," Sjoberg said.

"We would definitely love to address that (reason for expulsion), but we need permission from the individual to speak in depth." Minard admitted that she violated her signed student conduct code, known as a lifestyle principal, which prohibits homosexual relationships. The code also includes prohibitions on smoking, drinking, cheating, premarital sex, discrimination, harassment and profanity. "I do acknowledge to breaking that covenant," Minard said, but she said other students break the code without facing consequences.

He pair fought a tight third set, watched by their celebrity coaches, former champions Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisevic from the player's box.

Djokovic hit the ground three times during the tiebreak, on one occasion tumbling spectacularly into the net.

"It was a tough five-setter. Coming in I knew Marin would play aggressively," he said.

"He raised his game but I allowed him to come back into it. I was too passive on my strokes and he used his opportunities, but I managed to find the right pace when I needed it."

Djokovic donned a new pair of shoes early in the fourth set, upped the pace and raced into his 23rd semi-final, where he will meet 23-year-old Bulgarian Dimitrov.

"After I changed my shoes I played well," a smiling Djokovic said.

"I had just a better grip. I had better movement. Maybe it was just mental, but anyway, it worked."

He added he would keep the lucky shoes to play Dimitrov.

"It was a big win for Grigor. He's on fire this last six months," Djokovic said.

"The fact that he hasn't lost a match in the grass court season this year says enough about his quality.

"Also winning against Andy. I'm sure many people look at him as a potential grand slam winner. Maybe here, maybe in the grand slams to follow."