ELLEN MCCURTIN, our new “On the Road” columnist, is an ultrarunner who currently lives and trains in Danbury, Connecticut, although she considers Maine to be home. She holds the Maine women’s 50-mile record (6:19:59) and is a four-time member of the U.S. 100K team, with a PR of 8:16. A graduate of Columbia University, Ellen has worked for Glamour and Town & Country as a research editor and is now freelance. On the weekends, she volunteers at the farm and wildlife center at Green Chimneys, a school for special needs children in Brewster, New York. Ellen is married to distance runner Joe LeMay. Her current running goals include breaking 19 hours for 100 miles at the Vermont 100, breaking 80 miles for the 12-hour run, running under 3 hours for the marathon again, and getting closer to five minutes for the mile (her current PR is 5:17).

BRENT WEIGNER‘s marathon career began on June 30, 1968, at the Whitewater Wisconsin Marathon, where he ran 3:53. A recent high school graduate and Cheyenne Central High School record holder in the 880 (2:01.3), Brent had never raced over 10K. By 1972 he had lowered his marathon time to 2:49:39 at Denver’s Mile-High Marathon, where he finished in sixth place. In 1978 he organized and competed in the First Annual Rocky Mountain 50-Mile Run from Laramie, Wyoming, to Cheyenne, in which he finished second in 7:14. The following year Brent ran his marathon PR at Boston with a 2:45:50. As of January 22, 2002, Brent had run 120 marathons and ultras. He completed marathons in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., on January 18, 1998. On July 27, 1999, he became the first person in the world to run an ultramarathon on all seven continents. Eleven days later, on August 7, he broke his own world record when he completed the Cross Calgary 57K, thereby lowering the record to 267 days for running ultras on all seven continents. Dr. Weigner has taught seventh grade geography at McCormick Junior High School for the past 27 years. He can be contacted at RunWyo@msn.com or by phone at 307/635-3316.