Episode 65: The Running Unicorn, S. Mark Courtney, Shares How He Directed a Real Race During Covid

After Lisa ran the NOTSOB Marathon in Pennsylvania on a certified course during a pandemic, we had to bring the race director, S. Mark Courtney, on the show! Mark is a running unicorn because he has an impressive running streak of approximately 14,800 days in a row—that’s 40 years without a day off—without experiencing injury. At age 63, Mark has run 40 straight Boston Marathons, and has a marathon PR of 2:28:48 at Chicago. Mark operates a road-race timing company known as Runner's High. When he decided to maintain his streak by running the virtual Boston Marathon, he wanted to run his race on a certified course. Rather than finding a race, he created his own. Mark shares some details about the planning, what he thinks races will look like over the next year or two, and his secrets to staying injury-free. Thank you to RnJ Sports for sponsoring this episode.