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In most cases, if someone is sprinting away on their wedding day, it’s not a great sign. But David Ryland wasn’t a runaway groom in the traditional sense; he was just getting in one last race before tying the knot. Last September, Ryland, 26, and a handful of his best friends ran the Akron Marathon as a relay just hours before his wedding ceremony began. The Brecksville, Ohio, native was no stranger to the Akron Marathon, which he has finished twice as an individual as well as twice as part of a relay. As a competitive runner since his preteen...

During last year’s Dallas Marathon relay, Dwayne Pickens had only 5.2 miles for his segment, and he was confident that he’d breeze through it, considering he’d run eight miles the weekend before. About two miles in, the breathing issues started. He told Runner’s World that it was a cold morning, so he thought the cool air was affecting his lungs and making it more challenging to breathe. The next thing he remembers is waking up in the emergency room, where he found out that, technically, he’d been dead on the course for about two minutes. Although he’d never had any...

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., March 31, 2010 – Dependable. Determined. Motivated. Those are just three of the many words Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Derrick Hayes, assistant staff noncommissioned officer in charge of the flammables section for 2nd Supply Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, uses to describe Cpl. Dana Hineline. Marine Corps Cpl. Dana Hineline was selected as 2nd Supply Battalion's outstanding female for Women's History Month. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. Katesha Washington  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "She is just simply outstanding," he said. "If you need something to get done the right way, the first time,...

BEIJING — After a week of notable stumbles, the United States track team fully asserted itself in the last two events on the track at the Beijing Olympics. Sanya Richards and Jeremy Wariner ran the anchor legs Saturday night at the Bird’s Nest as the women’s and men’s 4x400-meter relays won gold medals — the sixth and seventh of these Games for the United States, more than any country with only the men’s marathon remaining on Sunday morning. LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, David Neville and Wariner set an Olympic record in 2 minutes 55.39 seconds. Bahamas was second 2:58.03, and...

BEIJING -- Torri Edwards' screeching expression said it all on a night of rain-soaked relay calamity on the Olympic track Thursday. Think about the famous Edvard Munch painting, "The Scream," and you get general idea of back-to-back disasters unfolding for the U.S. relay teams within about 30 minutes. There was disqualification for the men in the preliminaries of the 400-meter relay, followed by the same for the women, a huge dose of Olympic-size ignominy. This wasn't a whisper to a scream. It was a scream to a scream at the Bird's Nest. And, on top of it all, the botched...

The four girls who had been tearing up Western Pennsylvania high school track had been brought to tears, their hopes of defending their district and state championships in the 400-meter relay dashed by a fallen runner on Wednesday. But a goodwill gesture by some opponents has given Penn Hills High School another chance. Three teams that finished ahead of them decided to step aside, giving the Penn Hills girls a shot at the championships after all.

SIERRA VISTA - The green-clad and kilted folk of Sierra Vista tinkered down Fry Boulevard in perfect parade weather during the sixth-annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on Saturday. Participants from U.S. Border Patrol agents to youngsters seemed to enjoy themselves. Sierra Vista Irish-American Committee director Gerry Campbell said the annual parade is essentially the whole reason for his committee. There were 40 parade entries registered by Saturday morning. "And then, sometimes, people just show up. We just squeeze 'em in there at the end," Campbell said. The Cochise College Irish literature class joined in the morning's march. Class instructor Mary...

Mexican Migrants Launch Relay to NYC By TRACI CARL Associated Press Writer October 10, 2004, 4:58 PM EDT MEXICO CITY -- Mexican migrants launched a two-month relay Sunday from Mexico's capital to New York, calling on lawmakers to grant them the right to cast absentee ballots in 2006 presidential elections and organizing undocumented workers along the way. The binational relay is in its third year, following a 3,800-mile route through northeast Mexico, then the southern and eastern United States, with runners carrying a torch to New York City in honor of Mexico's patron saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe. Some 5,000...