Running

Oldest marathonor to break 4 hours dies — Ed Whitlock, a retired mining engineer and masters running champion who broke three hours in the marathon in his 70s and last fall became the oldest person ever to run 26.2 miles in under four hours, died Monday in Toronto. He was 86. His death, at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center, was caused by prostate cancer, his family said in a statement. The British-born Whitlock trained in a cemetery near his home in Milton, Ontario, outside Toronto, running laps for three hours or more at a time in his shuffling style. He had no coach, followed no special diet, did no stretching except on the morning of a race, got no massages and took no medication, except for a supplement for his knees. The training itself was drudgery, Whitlock said, and he did not run for his health. He simply enjoyed setting records and getting attention. And those records forced scientists and fellow runners to reassess the possibilities of aging and performance. “The real feeling of enjoyment,” he said in an interview with The New York Times in December, “is getting across the finish line and finding out that you’ve done OK.”

Baseball

Prosecutors: Men smuggled Cuban players to get rich — Federal prosecutors have told jurors that a Florida sports agent and a baseball trainer orchestrated an illegal smuggling ring to get rich by bringing Cuban ballplayers to the major leagues. Defense lawyers for agent Bartolo Hernandez and trainer Julio Estrada countered Tuesday that both stayed within the law while helping players escape communist Cuba and sign lucrative contracts in the U.S. Now that closing arguments are done in the six-week trial, jurors should begin deliberations Wednesday. Prosecutors say the smuggling network included boat captains, handlers and forgers of phony paperwork to get players quickly to the U.S. Some of the dozens of smuggled players testified, including Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox and Leonys Martin of the Seattle Mariners. Neither Hernandez nor Estrada took the witness stand.

Hockey

NWHL’s 1st transgender player retires — The National Women’s Hockey League’s first transgender player says he plans to retire after this season. Harrison Browne announced his decision in a release issued by the league on Tuesday in advance of the NWHL semifinal and championship playoff games this weekend. Browne plays for the Buffalo Beauts, who will face New York on Friday. The winner will play in the Isobel Cup Final on Sunday.

— From wire reports