A marathon a month for Curran

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By Steve Nearman

Brooke Sydnor Curran insists she was merely looking for a way out of the house.

"I am a 41-year-old, stay-at-home mother of three girls - ages 16, 15 and 12," she said. "I took up running at the age of 30 to get out of the house and simply to spend time alone. Running a marathon was on my life list of things to do. ... Once I had run one marathon [2002 Marine Corps], I had to run another, faster. Then it was qualifying for Boston and then, when that was no longer a big deal, I came up with the RunningBrooke idea. It's incredibly satisfying to me putting meaning into my running."

The Alexandrian went on to explain the RunningBrooke idea.

(Readers are advised to stay seated when they read the following for fear of exhaustion.)

"I have committed to running a marathon on every continent, in each of the 50 states, and in all five marathon majors [London, Boston, Berlin, Chicago and New York City] - one marathon a month until I'm done," she said. "I pay for all travel expenses and associated fees; every dollar I raise goes directly back into the community. I've raised over $17,000 so far" for Alexandria charities that benefit women and children.

Curran is well on her way to her goals. In June, she ran her third continent - South America - with the Easter Island Marathon after running Berlin in 2008. She's run New York and Chicago, which leaves just London in April to complete the Marathon Majors.

She just completed her fifth state, Pennsylvania, with a personal best 3:09 at last month's Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, which demonstrates that Curran is no jogger.

Next up is the JFK 50-miler in Hagerstown, Md., on Nov. 21, then a bevy of other races around the world in the coming months.

"It is costly," she said. "We are paying for all of my travel. At the end of the year, with tax benefits, we'll be able write off some of the costs. I'm trying to keep expenses down. I stay with friends when I can, use my frequent flier miles. We are taking a little bit of a financial hit. But my husband supports me wholeheartedly. He is so right there supporting me. He works hard."

Most of the trips she takes alone, but Curran has taken each of her girls separately on an international trip, which she said makes for a great bonding and educational experience.

Check out her blog and Web site at runningbrooke.blogspot.com and runningbrooke.com.

Few beans left - Word from the Boston Marathon office is that the race is within 1,800 runners of filling its 25,000-runner limit. Those spots are expected to be filled within three weeks.

Following up - Christopher Raabe of the District proved to be in good enough shape after an August car accident to nab a 2:19:49 time at last Sunday's New York City Marathon, good for $2,000 and 20th place overall.