2 from US join elite club: 7 marathons, 7 days, 7 continents
Two American endurance athletes have redefined the meaning of the term “globetrotter” by running seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. And they both did it in world-record time.
Daniel Cartica, of Chicago, and Becca Pizzi, of Belmont, Massachusetts, won the World Marathon Challenge on Friday – the first U.S. competitors to sweep the strength-sapping event.
Cartica, a U.S. Marine Corps captain, and Pizzi, a day care center operator, finished with a beachfront marathon in Sydney. They and 13 others began Jan. 23 with a marathon in Antarctica, where the sub-zero temperatures caused Pizzi’s iPod to freeze and burst.
In between, on consecutive days, they ran 26.2 miles in Chile, Miami, Spain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. Cartica averaged around three hours, 33 minutes per marathon, with an event best of 3:12:46 in Chile. Pizzi averaged well under 4 hours; her fastest was 3:41:20 in Miami.
They now join a club more elite than those who have voyaged into space or scaled Mount Everest.
Duncan to Peter Pan’s world
One of the best Peter Pans ever is returning home to Broadway – and to a musical about Peter Pan.
Sandy Duncan, who played the boy who won’t grow up on Broadway from 1979-81, will soon replace Carolee Carmello in “Finding Neverland,” easily the most inspired piece of recasting in recent history.
The “Finding Neverland” musical is adapted from the 2004 whimsical film of the same name about a widow whose four young sons inspired playwright J.M. Barrie to write the children’s classic.
Starting Feb. 9, Duncan will play the widow’s mother, joining Tony Yazbeck as Barrie and Kelsey Grammer as both the American theatrical producer Charles Frohman and a fearsome Captain Hook.
Duncan, known for her TV turn in “The Hogan Family,” previously was on Broadway in “Chicago,” “Canterbury Tales” and “The Boyfriend.” She will turn 70 on Feb. 20.
The birthday bunch
Actress Dorothy Malone is 91. Actor Gene Hackman is 86. Actress Tammy Grimes is 82. Actress Vanessa Redgrave is 79. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is 75. Rock singer Marty Balin is 74. Singer Phil Collins is 65. Actor Christian Bale is 42. Actor Wilmer Valderrama is 36.