Boston Marathon

The Tri-State area was represented by 27 runners in the 2010 Boston Marathon on Monday. Click on the PDF file to see how they finished in the field of 23,021 participants.

Monday, April 16, 2012 RUNNING BOSTON - Hagerstown's Cameron Hanlin finished 54th overall with the fastest time of any Tri-State area runner at Monday's 116th running of the Boston Marathon. Hanlin, 24, a North Hagerstown High School graduate, covered the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 36 minutes, 4 seconds on an unseasonably hot day. Three Tri-State runners finished in the top 10 in their respective divisions. Mark Cucuzzella, 45, of Shepherdstown, W.Va., finished in 2:46:49, good for 154th overall and fourth in the men's 45-49 division.

Hagerstown resident Cameron Hanlin said he had finished the Boston Marathon in a personal best time Monday afternoon and was at the Cumberland Valley Athletic Club's vans when he heard “these rumbles.” Hanlin, 25, said at first members of the local running group wondered if the sound was motorcycles. “We didn't actually see the explosion,” Hanlin said of two bombs that went off near the finish line, about two blocks from where the local running club's two vans were parked.

About 13 minutes after Judy Emmert crossed the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street on Monday afternoon, she heard the two explosions that killed three people and wounded more than 170 others. As exhausted as the Hagerstown resident was after completing the 26.2-mile race, Emmert said she thought she better get off the street and started running toward where her group from the Cumberland Valley Athletic Club was congregated a few blocks away. “First, I heard what sounded like two cannons going off really loud, like Civil War cannons, one right after the other,” said Emmert, 51, a dentist with Eric Smith's practice.

andrewm@herald-mail.com I ran the Boston Marathon for a fifth straight year Monday. And for the fifth straight year, I'm writing a column about it. Tradition is tradition. Why else would anyone want to run the Boston Marathon? The world is filled with smoother and faster 26.2-mile marathon courses - courses that aren't seemingly designed to chew up your legs and spit them out long before the finish line, courses that don't have a Heartbreak Hill waiting for you at Mile 20, courses that won't sock you with July weather in mid-April.

A Republican Washington County delegate, with help from Democrats, is mounting a challenge to the repeal of the death penalty, a measure that was signed into law by Gov. Martin O'Malley earlier this week. Neil C. Parrott, R-Washington, announced the start of a petition drive at a press conference in Baltimore on Friday. With him were Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger, a Democrat, and Sen. James Brochin, D-Baltimore County. “Life is extremely precious ... but, for example, if someone does something like the attack on the Boston marathon, they deserve the death penalty,” Parrott said, noting that the press conference was held not far from the finishing line of the Baltimore Marathon.

I got a rare opportunity last Monday. I had a chance to watch history twice in the same day. On April 29, I finally had a chance to see “42” -- the story of Jackie Robinson, who in 1947 was used to break the color barrier in major league baseball against the wishes of a segregated society. That morning, I woke up to find out that Jason Collins, a 7-foot center for the Washington Wizards, decided to become the first active athlete in one of America's four major sports leagues to admit he is gay against the wishes of a skeptical society.

andrewm@herald-mail.com Because I've been up to my ears in fall sports recently, I haven't had much time to pay attention to politics and the upcoming presidential election. If I'm not writing a sports story at work, I'm editing one. If I'm not at work or sleeping, I'm either watching a game on TV or out pounding the pavement in my running shoes, training for a November marathon. Sports has become my world. I also recognize this as one of my shortcomings, because I tend to get tunnel vision.

Thumbs up to the Washington County Public Schools Education Foundation, which this week distributed $5,923 to eight county public schools for projects that will enhance students' learning. The foundation has distributed more than $70,000 in the program's four years through minigrants that are funded largely through the school system's employee giving campaign. Thumbs up to the Maryland Jockey Club, which this week unveiled enhanced security plans for the 138th Preakness Stakes on May 18 at Pimlico Race Course.

Bombings won't change the way we live our lives To the editor: Today (April 15, 2013) we witness the horrific explosion at the finish line at the Boston Marathon, making us realize there are persons or organizations out there that want to do things like this in an effort to change our way of life. The Boston Marathon is one of the most prestigious marathons in our country and involving athletes from all over the United States and ... the world. I understand we don't know immediately who is responsible for this attack but when we find out, we the people of the United States expect swift and effective justice be done to those responsible for such a terrible cowardly act against humanity.

I got a rare opportunity last Monday. I had a chance to watch history twice in the same day. On April 29, I finally had a chance to see “42” -- the story of Jackie Robinson, who in 1947 was used to break the color barrier in major league baseball against the wishes of a segregated society. That morning, I woke up to find out that Jason Collins, a 7-foot center for the Washington Wizards, decided to become the first active athlete in one of America's four major sports leagues to admit he is gay against the wishes of a skeptical society.

Thumbs up to the Washington County Public Schools Education Foundation, which this week distributed $5,923 to eight county public schools for projects that will enhance students' learning. The foundation has distributed more than $70,000 in the program's four years through minigrants that are funded largely through the school system's employee giving campaign. Thumbs up to the Maryland Jockey Club, which this week unveiled enhanced security plans for the 138th Preakness Stakes on May 18 at Pimlico Race Course.

A Republican Washington County delegate, with help from Democrats, is mounting a challenge to the repeal of the death penalty, a measure that was signed into law by Gov. Martin O'Malley earlier this week. Neil C. Parrott, R-Washington, announced the start of a petition drive at a press conference in Baltimore on Friday. With him were Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger, a Democrat, and Sen. James Brochin, D-Baltimore County. “Life is extremely precious ... but, for example, if someone does something like the attack on the Boston marathon, they deserve the death penalty,” Parrott said, noting that the press conference was held not far from the finishing line of the Baltimore Marathon.

The news had traveled fast.  My husband and I had separated. The parking lot behind the elementary school was filled with minivans waiting for the dismissal bell. Several of the carpool-driving moms came to me with kind words and hugs. One of them, an immigrant from another country, said something I didn't quite understand in her halting English. I heard, "Four bedrooms," and I think she might have been offering a place to stay. Her next words were clear, and in the more than 20 years since she spoke, I've not forgotten them.

“I see where a Republican Congressman's rewriting history. He says there have been five terrorist attacks since President Obama's been in office. Uh, no, there's been two. Fort Hood, that guy was in the Army. These guys that did the Boston bombing were American citizens, and the other three were failures. And he said nobody, no terrorist attacks during George Bush's watch. I know I'm older and I'm losing my memory, but wasn't he president on Sept. 11, 2001? You can't rewrite history, fellas.

Sunday's performance by the Maryland Symphony Orchestra had a decidedly different sound to it as the group offered its rendition of music from “West Side Story.” Among the highlights was the emphasis on percussion, and the instruments were varied. There was a rainstick, which simulated falling rain, and another instrument that was meant to re-create the sound of thunder. “You will hear a lot of sounds you would hear in nature,” Maryland Symphony Orchestra percussionist Julie Boehler told a crowd before Sunday's show.

Bombings won't change the way we live our lives To the editor: Today (April 15, 2013) we witness the horrific explosion at the finish line at the Boston Marathon, making us realize there are persons or organizations out there that want to do things like this in an effort to change our way of life. The Boston Marathon is one of the most prestigious marathons in our country and involving athletes from all over the United States and ... the world. I understand we don't know immediately who is responsible for this attack but when we find out, we the people of the United States expect swift and effective justice be done to those responsible for such a terrible cowardly act against humanity.

Matt Harvey outpitched Stephen Strasburg in a marquee matchup of young aces, escaping a late bases-loaded jam while the crowd chanted his name and leading the New York Mets over the Washington Nationals 7-1 Friday night. Ike Davis and Lucas Duda each hit two home runs, providing an ample cushion for Harvey and the Mets to end their three-game skid. Harvey and Strasburg paired off for the first time in their careers, with many projecting the celebrated 24-year-olds will duel far into the future.