Marathon

CRT Capital equity analyst Ann Kohler raised her rating on Marathon, an Ohio-based petroleum product refiner, to "buy" from "fairly valued. " Kohler's 12-month target for shares is $46. Shares rose Tuesday, after the US government reported an unexpected crude stockpile decline.

Boston Marathon officials have granted 2,160 deferments into the 2013 race to runners who opted to sit out this year because of the heat. Boston Athletic Association spokesman Marc Davis says those runners will have a chance to register in August, before the rest of the field signs up. The B.A.A. doesn't know how many will take it up on the offer. The total field will remain at 27,000. With temperatures forecast in the high 80s, the B.A.A. encouraged runners to skip April's race and run next year instead.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jockey Calvin Borel leaned toward Javier Castellano , pointed, and just like that, the winner’s circle at the Breeders’ Cup morphed into a boxing ring. Three-time Kentucky Derby winner Borel and Castellano tussled at Churchill Downs just moments after tangling during the $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon in an ugly, chaotic scene that left Castellano shaken and Borel pleading with security officials to let him go so he could “kill’’ his rival.

‘Only connect," E.M. Forster famously urged. Easier said than done, to judge by the subject matter of the 14th annual Boston Theater Marathon. One way or another, a striking number of the 53 plays presented Sunday concern the difficulties in forging a genuine human connection in a revved-up world where everyone is constantly on the move — literally, emotionally, or technologically. The underlying message of these 10-minute dramas and comedies: Faced with such circumstances, you've got to be willing to adapt, multitask, and sometimes go to extreme lengths in order to make...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The United States can again send three men to the Olympic marathon. The question is, who will they be? Alan Culpepper, Meb Keflezighi, and Dan Browne qualified for the Athens Games during the US Olympic Trials yesterday, but they're also considered the nation's best at 10,000 meters. Culpepper and Keflezighi have already competed in the Olympics in that event. "My intentions are to run the Olympic marathon," said Culpepper, who won the trials in 2 hours 11 minutes 42 seconds.

The 2007 Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice at the New England Conservatory closed on Saturday with the annual students' marathon concert, impishly dubbed the "Sick Puppy Iditarod" by artistic director Stephen Drury. Though not quite as long as its namesake, the 28-work, six-and-a-half - hour trek traversed a fair portion of the new-music landscape. Any anthology this size invites blanket statements, and the program seemed to evince a certain caution among the current avant-garde vis-à-vis their trailblazing ancestors: The oldest pieces made the strongest...

Stuart Appleby finished with three straight birdies to tie Shigeki Maruyama for the lead yesterday at the Sony Open, setting up a long final round in which just about everyone is still in the game. Because the opening round was washed out at Waialae, today will feature a 36-hole final. Maruyama holed out from the bunker to the right of the par-3 seventh late in his round and shot another 5-under-par 65. Appleby had a strong finish for the second straight day and shot 66. They were at 10-under 130. Mark Wilson (67)

Singer Sheryl Crow joined more than 30,000 runners in her first half-marathon, and she has finished with a time of 1 hour, 59 minutes and 14 seconds at the St. Jude Country Music Half Marathon. Crow was running to raise money for New Hope Academy, and she says she got plenty of support from people cheering the runners all along the course. She says she can really see how people get hooked on running marathons. Ryan James, 19, a sophomore from Berry College's cross country team won the first marathon he entered, finishing a time of 2:32:50 in a field with fewer...

A Pelham man who was first to cross the finish line at the 5th annual Manchester marathon was 2 minutes ahead of his nearest competitors. Twenty-nine-year-old Patrick Moulton finished the course in 2:29:32. WMUR-TV ( http://bit.ly/vDWXll) says Sunday was Moulton's first time running the course, although his twin brother has run the course before. Moulton, who lives in Rhode Island now, said it's probably the best he's felt winning any marathon.

ESPN will have its fourth annual 24-hour marathon and this year it will include two women's games, one with Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. The cable network announced Thursday that the around-the-clock coverage will include 17 men's games and the two women's games starting at midnight EST Nov. 15. Summitt announced Tuesday that she had been diagnosed with early onset dementia — the Alzheimer's type. The Naismith Hall of Famer will start her 38th season with the Lady Volunteers, who host Miami in the State Farm Women's Tip-Off Classic in the marathon.

Tom Grady bought a nice old overcoat. The coat inspired him to write a play. Now that play will help raise money for Boston theater people in need. Grady's "Hand Down the Chesterfield" will be one of 53 short plays put on by 54 theater companies in Sunday's 10-hour, 14th annual Boston Theater Marathon, beginning at noon at the Wimberly Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts. Marathon officials expect to raise $5,000 or more for the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund, administered by StageSource, which helps individual artists and groups with emergency needs.

From cycling to shooting, several New Englanders have a chance to participate in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Meet some of the athletes with local connections who hope to bid for medals in London: Elizabeth Beisel New England connection: Grew up in Saunderstown, R.I. Team: Swimming Age: 19 Notes: Beisel will have a final chance to qualify for the Olympics in June. She captured the gold in the 400 IM at the 2011 FINA World Championships for her first world title.

BOSTON — In the first major league game since 1925 in which both teams put a position player on the mound, Baltimore designated hitter Chris Davis overcame an awful day at the plate by pitching two scoreless innings and getting the win as the Orioles outlasted Boston 9-6 Sunday in 17 innings. Davis went 0 for 8, striking out five times and grounding into a double play. But in a season full of surprises for the Orioles, a first baseman by trade delivered the biggest one yet in a crazy game at Fenway Park.

Marathon Sports is running a Mother's Day sale this week through Sunday, with full-price women's apparel marked down 20 percent. Tights, shirts, shorts, bras, and underwear from brands including Saucony, Brooks, The North Face, and Nike will be on offer. Store locations include 671 Boylston St., Boston, 617-267-4774; 1654 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-354-4161; and 255 Washington St., Wellesley, 781-237-0771. Find others at here .

Fourth in an occasional series profiling US Olympic hopefuls training for the Summer Games in London. Most of all, Shalane Flanagan remembers waiting. Nearly lost amid rows of spectators on Boylston Street, the petite middle school student waited for the parade of runners, gripped by giddy anticipation. She stood wide-eyed, the concept of a 26.2-mile race almost impossible to grasp. She watched closely for her father, Steve, certain to stream by earlier than most.

WARWICK, R.I. - A West Warwick man who completed more than 50 marathons in his wheelchair and inspired others with disabilities has died after a choking episode. Jason Pisano died Monday night at Kent Hospital. His longtime coach, Paul Tetreault, told The Providence Journal that Mr. Pisano had experienced a choking episode last week and suffered severe brain damage after being without oxygen for a significant time. His family decided to take him off a ventilator Monday night.

MARATHON, Fla. -- The most interesting things in Marathon are found along its fringes. That's mainly because Route 1 slices through the center of this 8-mile-long chain of coral islands, en route from Miami to Key West. Many people don't bother to stop for more than gas or trinkets, which is a shame. Any turn off the main drag, down roads to where the land meets Florida Bay to the north or the wide Atlantic to the south, offers recreation and relaxation opportunities. Marathon isn't the name of one island, but of a bunch, including Conch Key, Crawl Key, Duck Key, Vaca Key, and several more.

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann refuses to accept that the 2012 Republican presidential sweepstakes has come down to a choice between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. Bachmann says "I'm in it for the long haul. " Bachmann tells CBS's "The Early Show" she a viable candidate, noting she won the Iowa straw poll. That test of strength happened on the same day that Perry, the governor of Texas, got into the race. Bachmann tells interviewers she isn't participating in this weekend's Florida straw poll, saying the balloting there is...

(Jon Palmer/Boston.com Correspondent) By Jon Palmer, Boston.com Correspondent Comic book movie fans geared up for tonight's midnight premiere of " Marvel's The Avengers " with The Ultimate Marvel Marathon at AMC Loews' Boston Common 19 and other theaters around the country. A $40 ticket granted admission to the five movies that set the stage for the new release -- "Iron Man," "The Incredible Hulk," "Iron Man 2," "Thor," and "Captain America" -- plus the finale itself.