Weatherman finds adventure on international sports scene

When it comes to the perception of television weathermen spending their days staring at computer terminals and analyzing satellite photos, Peter Churney of WLBZ-TV in Bangor breaks the mold.

You could almost call Churney a “Renaissance Man” of meteorology.

Churney’s long list of places traveled, daring experiences tried, and international events competed in reads like a George Plympton resume.

Besides being Bangor’s newest TV weatherman, Churney is an avid runner with a wealth of competitive racing experience – both nationally and worldwide.

Churney also has a great willingness to try almost anything once, no matter how dangerous or foolhardy it may seem.

“I once jumped out of a plane at 50,000 feet,” Churney explained. “It was part of a weekend adventure segment we did for KMST (TV-46, Monterey, Calif.). We had a film crew with us to shoot the whole thing. It was wild.”

Churney arrived in Bangor from San Francisco, where he was the weather anchor at KPIX-TV and an associate producer of a few special programs. Why come to Maine when you have a successful career in a jumping town like San Francisco?

“I just love the area,” said Churney, who was born in Boston and lived in Castine for 10 years. “I spent a lot of time sailing in Boothbay Harbor. I just think this is a great place for me to be.”

Churney’s fiancee will join him in another month or so. She is a news anchor at KPIX.

What does she think about the move?

“She’s terrified, absolutely terrified. She’s from California and doesn’t know what to expect,” he said.

Churney ran varsity track at the University of California at Berkeley where he received his bachelor’s degree in English. He hooked up with the Reebok International Track Team his senior year, in 1983, and has been on it ever since.

The 34-year-old meteorologist has packed a lot of diverse experiences into a relatively short time.

He became a world-class runner despite not taking up the sport until he was 20. “I think that worked out better for me,” said Churney. “A lot of times, the younger you start, the sooner you burn out.”

Churney has competed against such running luminaries as world-record holders Abdi Bile of Somalia, Said Aouita of Morocco, Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe of Great Britain, Peter Elliott, Steve Scott, Jeff Atkinson, and Sydney Maree of the United States.

As a runner for the Reebok team and a cyclist for the PowerBar Racing Team, Churney has traveled all over the world to compete in various world-class races.

Some of the better-known races have been the IAAF Mobil Grand Prix Championship in Rome; the Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway; the Millrose Games in New York City; and the Prefontaine Invitational at Eugene, Ore.

Churney has run in Ireland, Malaysia, Morocco, France, Israel, Switzerland, Monaco, India, Germany and Sardinia.

His best event is the 1,500 meters. His best time is 3:39.90.

His plans to enter the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials went awry because of a knee injury that forced him into a long rehabilitation program. He was not able to run all-out without feeling any pain until last spring. “I know I’ve got one more big race in me,” said Churney. “I don’t know when I’ll run it, but I know it’s still there.”

So how about some more on those wild and crazy things Peter Churney has done?

“I climbed the Matterhorn when I was 13, and I did the first live remote from Mount Shasta,” said Churney. He also did the Empire State Building Run-Up in 1989 – from the first floor to the 102nd.

He would like to continue along that line by starting a weekly “weekend adventures” segment for WLBZ. “This is a great area for stuff like that ’cause there’s so much to do,” Churney said. “I think it would be a lot of fun.”

Weather, adventures, fun? Do those words belong in the same sentence? Peter Churney thinks so. He hopes to convince his viewers of that, too.