Marathon

The summer before Megan Walburn's senior year at Washington College she met someone at a cookout who worked at WJZ. Soon there was a writing test. Then a gig freelancing. She has stayed at WJZ (our media partner) for the last five years producing, and now executive produces the network's 11 p.m. news broadcast. "News is ever-changing, which means my job never gets boring," said Walburn, 26, a Brewers Hill resident. "In some jobs, people watch the clock from 9-5. At my job, I find myself wishing for more time in the workday.

In the days and weeks after the Boston Marathon bombings, the National Rifle Association has repeatedly stated that many Bostonians who did not possess guns probably wished that they had them in their homes during the tense "shelter in place" manhunt. That statement is in large part a straw-man argument. Much of what occurred during those unfortunate days disproves the NRA's usual narrative about guns and public safety. Let's begin with the obvious: Had everyone in Boston been armed the day of the bombings, the bombings would have still occurred.

The stories of marathon runners collapsing and dying at the finish line are enough to scare anybody thinking of participating in one of the 26.2 mile races popular around this time of year. But a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers has found the risk of deaths at marathon races is pretty low. Not impossible, but not all that likely either. A runner's risk of dying during or soon after the race is about .75 per 100,000 the research found. Men were twice as likely to die as women.

A group of friends and family from Elkridge prepared for the Preakness as they have every year for decades. They packed tubs of Rice Krispies treats, shrimp salad, macaroni salad, cashews, soft drinks and a giant bag of Utz chips into their cars and headed to Pimlico Race Course . But this year, the Boston Marathon bombing was in the back of their minds. Peggy Maher, one of the group, brought her grandson for the first time. Just in case the unthinkable happened, she went over an emergency plan with everyone should they get separated: Meet at Sinai Hospital, a little over a mile away.

Safari Charles of Owings Mills learned a few important lessons after running her first half-marathon last year. Wear shoes that fit, or your toenails may turn black. Run with a group for motivation (and for those days your husband would rather sleep in). Carry water on your long runs. This year as Charles prepares to run her first full marathon at the Baltimore Running Festival in October, she hopes to have learned from last year's experience. She has bigger shoes and trains with the group Black Girls Run, which she says gets her on the pavement consistently.

The final stage direction in Samuel Beckett's “Play” is “repeat.” The Acme Corporation, one of Baltimore's experimental theater companies, is taking that instruction very seriously. Last Friday, the one-act, three-character, roughly one-hour work was performed on a kind of continual loop from noon until midnight in a high-ceilinged, balconied hall at St. Mark's Lutheran Church. But that's just a warm-up. This week, the production's length will double, running continually from one noon to the next.

Three marathons, one telethon, and still it seems like nothingthon.* "Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon" (continues 6 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Channel 2) -- Jerry Lewis, still at the helm of the TV fund-raising phenomenon he turned into an annual event and media institution, is planning to go the distance again, with help during this 29th annual telecast from Tony Bennett, Boyz II Men, Elayne Boosler, Larry King and others.* "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" (8-10 p.m., Channel 45) -- This 1991 telemovie, starring Christina Applegate of "Married . . . With Children," is echoed, in a way, in another Fox series, the family drama "Party of Five," which premieres a week from tonight.

I'm running the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach in mid-March. What do I need to pack? I'm worried that I'll forget something. Don't feel too frazzled. If you forget anything, most of what you'll need for the race can be bought there when you arrive. Here's what not to forget: your running shoes and socks, one comfortable running outfit and your race confirmation packet. If you have nothing else, make sure these are safely packed and ready to go, and if you fly, carry them on. As for the rest of your gear, here is our Top 10 list: 1. Warm-up suit.

Boys' Latin is gearing up for round-the-clock lacrosse starting Thursday morning to raise money for wounded American soldiers through the Wounded Warrior Project. Shootout for Soldiers is a 24-hour lacrosse game set to take place from 9 a.m. Thursday through 9 a.m. Friday. The 24-hour game, for males 10 years old and up, will be divided into 24 one-hour sections. A number of professional and college players have signed up to play and support the benefit. Through lacrosse, the goal is to raise significant funds for wounded American soldiers as well as establish a stronger connection with local veterans.

New Year's Day is a day of college football bowl games -- and of TV marathons. Regarding the latter, you can turn to Comedy Central at any point today (and until 10 p.m. tomorrow) and watch reruns of "Soap."Or, beginning at noon today, you can watch a marathon of 18 back-to-back USA Network telemovies -- though I wouldn't recommend it. This sounds like a joke, but isn't: All 18 of those movies are bad. Nickelodeon has its always-tapeable "Classic TV Countdown" (beginning at noon and running past midnight)

Major League Lacrosse Streaking Rubeor scores 4 as Bayhawks rout Machine, 14-5 Attackman Ben Rubeor (Loyola High) had another big game as the Chesapeake Bayhawks manhandled the Ohio Machine, 14-5, in a game shortened to three quarters Saturday night because of lightning around Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Rubeor, who scored seven goals in a win over the New York Lizards last weekend, scored four goals and assisted another against the Machine. He now has at least one point in 32 consecutive games, and was named Player of the Game for the second straight time Saturday.

The friends and family of Erika Brannock are hosting a fundraiser at Mothers Federal Hill for Erika Brannock , the 29-year-old teacher at a Towson preschool who was injured at the Boston Marathon. The fundraiser for Brannock is 1 p.m to 5 p.m. this Saturday, May 4, at Mothers Federal Hill Grille, 1113 S. Charles St. Tickets are $40, but organizers of the event expect to raise most of their funds through raffle sales and donations at the event. For information call 410-244-8686 or go to the event's Facebook page , where there is a link to ticket information and a place to make online donations.

A Linthicum firm is among several orthotics and prosthetics companies that will offer victims of the Boston Marathon bombing artificial limbs at no charge if their insurance doesn't cover all or some of the costs of the devices. Dankmeyer Inc., founded by an amputee who lost a leg in a childhood skating accident, joined with other firms Tuesday in announcing the Coalition to Walk and Run Again. The companies have agreed not to charge victims who provide a doctor's note proving they don't have insurance to cover the devices, which cost $8,000 to $60,000.

On the third Saturday in May, generations of Baltimoreans marched onto the infield at Pimlico Race Course with their coolers in tow, an image that helped define the Preakness Stakes. No longer. The Maryland Jockey Club has unveiled enhanced security plans for the 138th Preakness Stakes in the wake of recent deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon. And coolers are among the casualties. Fans will be subject to electronic wand searches at all gates for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on May 17 and the Preakness on May 18. They will not be allowed to carry backpacks or duffel bags into the races and only smaller, see-through-plastic containers will be permitted.

Some people have argued that the Boston Marathon bombing should not affect immigration reform because immigrants in the country illegally are not in the habit of planting bombs. But that doesn't doesn't mean they are safe. Many gang members are here illegally, including members of the dreaded MS-13. The gang member who killed the four New Jersey college students was in the country illegally. The 25-year-old man who kidnapped the 13-year-old-boy at a bus stop in Florida was too. And countless others kill people in traffic accidents.

Running Holt victorious in Half Marathon in Columbia Bridget Holt , 34, of Gambrills won the second annual Athleta Iron Girl Columbia Half Marathon in Columbia in 1 hour, 21 minutes, 22 seconds. Tyler Brannen , 41, of New Hampshire took the 5K in 19:43. More than 2,000 runners competed in the event, which raised more than $25,000 for the Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource Center at Howard County General Hospital. Nike Women Half Marathon: Samia Akbar , a Washington-area native and resident and 2003 All-American at American, won the Washington race in 1:19:32.

James C. Knighton, a certified public accountant and partner in an accounting firm who enjoyed marathon running, died of lung cancer Friday at St. Agnes HealthCare. The Catonsville resident was 42. Born and raised in Catonsville, Mr. Knighton was a 1980 graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School, where he was inducted into the National Honor Society and was a member of the basketball, soccer and cross country teams. As a student, he worked in its summer camp and returned to the school as an adult to watch sports events.

Sex. Murder. Sex. Money. Sex. Alien abductions. Sex.From 1977 to 1981, that's what ABC offered American audiences hefty helpings of, thanks to "Soap," a sometimes brilliant, often stupid, rarely dull soap-opera spoof whose worst sin was the legacy it left behind: a spin-off, "Benson."But don't hold that against it. Rather, sit back and enjoy Comedy Central's "Soap" marathon (6 p.m.-4 a.m.), as the wealthy Tates and the blue-collar Campbells wage war on each other and on the rest of the world (the world usually wins)

Clarksville resident Tatyana McFadden won the women's wheelchair race in the London Marathon on Sunday, six days after her win in the Boston Marathon. "The race is definitely dedicated to Boston and we had huge support from London, which was amazing," McFadden said during the post-race news conference. "Just the support that we're getting around the world means a lot, especially back in Boston and to the athletes. " McFadden, whose 1:46.02 time was a record mark for London, won the Boston Marathon wheelchair event Monday.

BALTIMORE -- A tuba and banjo duo dressed in saddle shoes, khakis and button-down shirts plays polkas and foxtrots by a set of escalators at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport on Friday morning. A nearby shoeshine man takes a break from his work to watch them and smile. It's a lighthearted moment that contrasts strongly with the scene a few feet away. There, in security lines for Terminal C, passengers intentionally avoid making eye contact as they shuffle toward whirring machines, removing their shoes and preparing for the possibility of delay, interrogation or arrest.