PHOTO: RHODE RACES

After Eliot Ephraim ’89 ran his first marathon in Chicago in 1994, he was hooked. Since then he’s logged 147 of the big races, including two ultramarathons and three Ironmans.

Ephraim is president of a running club called 50sub4, whose members attempt to complete marathons in under 4 hours—in all 50 states. He finished his first round in 2016, becoming the 89th club member to do so (that number has now grown to 165). He’s currently one marathon away from completing his second round, but health issues from a bike crash last summer have delayed him.

He cites the Boston Marathon of 2014, a year after the bombing, as his most memorable marathon, calling it “a somber reclaiming of the race by runners and the city of Boston.” Internationally, he’s run marathons in Iceland, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and as far afield as Antarctica. “I love the places it takes me,” he says. “Each one is an adventure.”