Race

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.

Pimlico Race Course Eighttofasttocatch, Bold Affair, Jewel of a Cat win stakes races Eighttofasttocatch took the lead 10 jumps out of the gate and led the rest of the way to win the $91,750 Henry S. Clark Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday. Winning for the first time in four tries at Pimlico, Eighttofasttocatch carried Forrest Boyce (Garrison Forest) for the first time to a widening five-length victory in 1minute, 43.91 seconds for the 11/16-mile distance.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh isn't sitting idly by waiting for the 2013 NFL draft to roll around on Thursday. This weekend, Harbaugh and other members of the Ravens organization, including senior vice president of public and community relations Kevin Byrne, competed in a Tough Mudder race in Gerrardstown, W.Va. This short video -- set to ear-rattling heavy metal music, of course -- posted on the team's official website shows the coach of the reigning Super Bowl champions climbing cargo nets and other obstacles, carrying logs or his teammates, cannon-balling into muddy ponds, swimming under obstacles, and crawling through mud. You know, if you're into that sort of thing.

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.

The day couldn't have turned out better for owner Irv Naylor. And it wasn't too shabby for jockey James Slater, either. With Slater in the saddle, Naylor's Alfa Beat captured the 111th running of the Grand National Steeplechase in Butler, adding a punctuation mark to a four-win performance at the Middleburg (Va.) Spring Races that shot Naylor into the national lead among owners in purses won. All four Naylor horses who prevailed in Virginia were trained by Slater's wife, Brianne.

"Gone Ridin' " reads the sign on Joe Aitcheson's door, beneath a wooden silhouette of a horse's head. "Be Back. Maybe. " It's an apt howdy-do from Aitcheson, 84, the winngingest steeplechase rider of all time. A member of the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame, he lives in a retirement community in Westminster, surrounded by keepsakes of a 21-year pro career in which he won a record 440 timber races and a record seven North American championships between 1961 and 1970. If they tallied the number of bones broken by jockeys, Aitcheson would likely hold that record, too. His knack of bouncing back from falls is legend.

It's unfortunate when an everyday accident happens but it's sad when columnist Dan Rodricks and Michael Hanchard use it to play the race card ("Man sees race, indifference in experience with Baltimore police," April 13). First, if as Michael Hanchard suggested "a middle-aged white couple had been surrounded by black or Latino attackers" no one would have known about it since The Sun wouldn't have printed whether the alleged attackers were black or Latino. They call that being PC. Secondly, if the couple were white they would have to be very careful where they drive or walk in the city, since they could be attacked simply because they are white.

Submitting sports notices The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. on Monday. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). Running Reservoir High School will hold its sixth annual Musical Madness 5k and 1k kids' fun run May 18 in Maple Lawn. The race starts at 8 a.m. and the post-race festival will include food and prizes from race sponsors and musical performances by Reservoir students. Musical Madness is a fundraiser for the Reservoir music program. Go to musicalmadness.wikispaces.com for details.

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.

Oh, Race, it's good to be back. I've missed you. And I've missed Phil's hat and Phil's Maori fishhook necklace, too! It's been two weeks, do you remember what happened? Africa? Speeding tickets? Fearless Friends got eliminated? Okay then, we're caught up, let's go to Switzerland. I've done very little international travel, but I did spend five days in Switzerland once between my junior and senior years of high school, so I'm totally an expert. Bern: city named after a bear. Interlaken: city named after the intersection of two lakes.