Race Day

Orb's path to the finish line in the second leg of the Triple Crown remains uncrowded. Normandy Invasion, the fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, dropped from contention for Saturday's 138th running of the Preakness on Sunday. Trainer Chad Brown and owner Rick Porter decided to stick with their original plan and point the horse toward prestigous races for 3-year-olds later in the summer. That leaves Orb, the colt co-owned by Baltimore County resident Stuart Janney III and Ogden Mills "Dinny" Pipps' stable, with only seven confirmed challengers at this point.

Security at Pimlico's historic Preakness barn will be heightened this year, a move that comes amid renewed concern about doping and horse safety in the sport. All visitors, including veterinarians, who want to spend time with horses scheduled to run in this year's Preakness will have to sign in at the barn off Winner Avenue, which will have just one entrance. Those new measures, adopted by the Maryland Racing Commission and Pimlico ownership, come in addition to surveillance measures and syringe-collection practices already in place for the second leg of the Triple Crown, scheduled to be run May 18 this year.

For many folks headed to Preakness, the focus of the afternoon isn't the race. It's the fashion — and we don't just mean hats. If you're in the grandstands, the Jockey Club area or Corporate Village, you'll want to dress the part. Betsy Dugan, owner of Bettina Collections in Cross Keys and former co-owner of Octavia in Pikesville, has been dressing women for Preakness for years. "This is the time ... to dress up," she said. If there's one rule of thumb, it's that ladies and gentlemen at Preakness should look like ...well, ladies and gentlemen.

BOSTON -- When Kieran O'Leary took the trip to last year's Boston Marathon, the County Dublin resident met up with several other Irish visitors before the race. "Some of the guys I knew from before from other races -- I'd met a few of them previously," O'Leary said by phone last week. "We met up on race day and traveled out to the start together and then hung around together, waiting for the start. " There were plans to meet up afterward as well. No post-race reunion happened however, because O'Leary found himself in a medical tent, receiving an I.V. drip -- a recovery from one of the hotter Boston Marathons in history.

Freedom Green is a full-time mom with four young children and a husband whose job has him working 20-hour days. That is why she runs. "There are times when I need to get away, so that I don't flip out," says Green, 40, of Owings Mills. "I don't want to pour that negative energy on my kids. Running is mom's multivitamin, a way to alleviate stress. "Any day that I get to run, they [children] could be hanging from the chandelier in the front foyer, and I wouldn't care. " Of the 25,822 participants signed up for the Baltimore Running Festival's four prime races on Saturday, 61 percent are women, up from 44 percent in 2003.

Baseball has Opening Day. Steeplechasing has My Lady's Manor, and yesterday the annual rite of spring again brought elaborate picnics and thundering horses to the rolling green hills of Harford County. The first of these races was held in 1902, and not so many years ago it was a small affair. A few hundred people would show up in tweeds and waxed cotton jackets to watch horses hurdle timbered fences across a three-mile course. They might make a few gentlemanly wagers between sips of bourbon or bites of chicken, but no one worried about beating the traffic out of the parking lot. The Hunt Cup, held later in the spring, "was always the big cocktail party" of Maryland steeplechasing, said Pedie Killebrew, who has attended the My Lady's Manor races for more than 30 years with friends and family.

So, you want to run a marathon, but you have a lot of questions. Should you load up on carbs before your race? Should you try going barefoot? Should you follow the “10 percent” rule, increasing your milage by no more than a small margin each week? A lot of the conventional wisdom about running is changing, and it's less than three months away from the Baltimore Running Festival. But don't worry. We're here to help. We've convened a panel of area running coaches - exercise physiologist and Baltimore-based running coach Brian Hand; Amy Horst, the head track coach at Loyola University Maryland; and Dave May, co-owner of CrossFit Frederick and a certified endurance coach - to give their advice on how to run long distances effectively and efficiently.

Maryland-based jockey Mario Pino says he once heard that the great race rider Laffit Pincay would wear his underwear inside out. For luck. Ramon Dominguez, Eclipse Award-winning jockey the last two years, likes to have Perrier water and animal crackers in his jockey room stall. And he puts his left boot on first. Always. They call horse racing the fastest two minutes in sports, but a jockey's preparation begins the night before and continues until the moment the starting gates clang open.

Horses? What horses? From the infield, the running of the Preakness Stakes is merely a side note - an excuse for tens of thousands to flood Pimlico and throw down all day. "I could probably name two horses a year, probably just the favorites," said Paul Sylvester, a 24-year-old engineer who went the past three years. "Most of the time you go, you're not really sure the race is on." More than 115,000 people came to last year's race, which made it the highest-attended sporting event in the state, officials said.

Team Kaya's dragon boat sped quickly past others racing along the waters of Baltimore's harbor Saturday morning, leaving other teams to wonder if it had a secret weapon. "It's that girl in the front. Look how small she is," said one man, wondering out loud if smaller team members mean a lighter, faster boat. The 17 teams competing in Saturday's event hosted by The Baltimore Dragon Boat Club at Tide Point Marina had spent weeks training for the grueling races, in which they paddle at top speed for 500 meters - at least two minutes for most boats.

The fourth annual Heather L. Hurd 5K Run and 1 Mile Fun Walk will take place at Harford Community College this Saturday, Nov. 10. The race, on a USA Track and Field certified course, honors the memory of Heather L. Hurd, a history major at Harford Community College from 1999 to 2003, who was killed in 2008 by a distracted driver who was texting. On-site race registration takes place in the newly renovated Susquehanna Center auxiliary gymnasium from 8 to 8:45 a.m., with the race starting at 9 a.m. Approximately 300 community members, from Ms. Hurd's family and friends to HCC students to general community members, plus Poe, the Ravens mascot; Ferrous, the IronBirds mascot; and Screech, the Harford Community College mascot; will be cheering on participants at the finish line.

Freedom Green is a full-time mom with four young children and a husband whose job has him working 20-hour days. That is why she runs. "There are times when I need to get away, so that I don't flip out," says Green, 40, of Owings Mills. "I don't want to pour that negative energy on my kids. Running is mom's multivitamin, a way to alleviate stress. "Any day that I get to run, they [children] could be hanging from the chandelier in the front foyer, and I wouldn't care. " Of the 25,822 participants signed up for the Baltimore Running Festival's four prime races on Saturday, 61 percent are women, up from 44 percent in 2003.

The Baltimore Running Festival is still a few days away, but Dr. John Senatore has been seeing injured patients for weeks. The veteran marathoner and chief of podiatry at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore said people have already overtrained and come to see him with strained muscles, stress fractures and other injuries.  He tells people if it hurts to run then skip the race. But he expects people will run away. Senatore will be on hand at Saturday's race as a part of a team of MedStar doctors treating injured runners at the festival, which includes a marathon, half-marathon and 5k. "The marathon is a very unforgiving race," he said.

It's the countdown to the Baltimore Running Festival , where thousands of runners will take to the city streets this weekend to run what they hope is the best 26.2 miles of their life. It will feel like spring on race day with the weather forecast calling for temperatures in the mid-50s at the beginning and a high of 74 expected for that day. That could mean a comfortable start to the race, but a warm finish. Expect to see runners peeling off clothes by the end. The running festival also includes a half marathon, 5k and children's fun run. If you're getting excited from all the hype around the race there are a few hundred spots still available across all the distancees because of dropouts and returned entries, according to the running festival website.

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.

Team Kaya's dragon boat sped quickly past others racing along the waters of Baltimore's harbor Saturday morning, leaving other teams to wonder if it had a secret weapon. "It's that girl in the front. Look how small she is," said one man, wondering out loud if smaller team members mean a lighter, faster boat. The 17 teams competing in Saturday's event hosted by The Baltimore Dragon Boat Club at Tide Point Marina had spent weeks training for the grueling races, in which they paddle at top speed for 500 meters - at least two minutes for most boats.

Get in the mud! Here's a look at some of the region's upcoming obstacle mud runs. Note: Check each organization's web site for more race day options. Fees increase for most of these events as the race day approaches. Tough Mudder May 12 and 13: Pocono Manor, PA, final entry by May 5, $200 Sept. 8 and 9: Frederick, MD, "tough" discount through April 30, $125 Oct. 20 and 21: Englishtown, NJ: "tough" discount through April 30, $125 Register at: http://www.toughmudder.com Spartan Race July 14 and 15: Palmerton, PA, $60-$100 Aug. 25 and 26: Leesburg, VA, $95-$145 Register at: http://www.spartanrace.com Warrior Dash May 19 and 20: Mechanicsville, MD; $75 Saturday, $65 Sunday; registration closes May 7. June 16 and 17: Long Pond, PA, $75 July 14: Morristown, NJ, $55 through May 29, $65 through July 2 Register at: http://www.warriordash.com Rugged Maniac July 14: Englishtown, NJ, $68 by May 4, $78 by June 8, $88 through July 6 Register at: http://www.ruggedmaniac.com —Catherine Mallette

Charity run, walk -- The fourth annual Knights of Columbus 10K Run, 1-Mile Fun Walk and Kids Fun Run will be held at 8 a.m. Sept. 1 at the Shrine of St. Anthony, 12290 Folly Quarter Road, near Glenelg. The event will help support local charities, including the Arc of Howard County and FISH. The cost is $20 through Aug. 31; $25 on race day. Families of up to four people pay $35 through Aug. 31; $40 on race day. 410-531-7594.

Maryland-based jockey Mario Pino says he once heard that the great race rider Laffit Pincay would wear his underwear inside out. For luck. Ramon Dominguez, Eclipse Award-winning jockey the last two years, likes to have Perrier water and animal crackers in his jockey room stall. And he puts his left boot on first. Always. They call horse racing the fastest two minutes in sports, but a jockey's preparation begins the night before and continues until the moment the starting gates clang open.