Timing is everything for S. Mark Courtney.

Known in many road racing circles for not only his running accomplishments — which are almost too many to count — but also because of his ChampionChip timing business, Courtney is a man who is deeply connected with the sport.

And it all started back on March 22, 1978 — a long time ago. That’s the day Courtney began his running career, a career that is nearly unmatched.

“It was a nice spring morning in March and I said if I’m ever going to start, today’s the day,” he said.

It had always been in his heart. “I went to Alderson-Broaddus and was in a physician’s assistant program,” he said.

“I knew I wanted to run, I’d just read a book, ‘Aerobics,’ by Ken Cooper, and I said before I’m 40, I want to run the Boston Marathon.”

It was a modest goal for a 22-year-old who ran in high school but couldn’t in college because A-B didn’t have a running program in those days. It’s easy to suggest it was a modest goal now, because at age 50, he’s run in 27 Boston Marathons in a row, including this year’s event, when he finished first in his age group.

Inspired by Cooper’s bestseller, Courtney started a daily program that began on Dec. 19, 1979, of running each day.

As of Saturday, his streak reached 9,656 consecutive days, the 42nd-longest such string ever recorded in the United States.

“None of those people race as much as I do or as fast as I do,” he said.

It’s true. On Friday, Courtney finished second in the Ogden Mile, as he was just a half-second behind Jason Bennett, the 15-year-old winner of the event.

All told, he’s logged more than 77,000 miles in the last 28 years.

How does he know that?

“I made a little chart, put on a pair of Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars and ran a mile,” he said of that first day. “I logged it down and the rest is history. I didn’t ever think I would have gone as far as I have. I still keep track of every mile. I hit 77,000 miles (three laps around the world) just a couple of weeks ago. It’s about 50 miles a week, about seven miles a day. Some days it’s longer, some days it’s shorter, but over the course of a whole year, I go about 2,500 miles.

At his current pace, he figures he’ll hit 100,000 miles at age 60, barring injury.

“It’s amazing,” he said.

Yes, it is.

On April 15, 1996, the day of the 100th Boston Marathon, he competed in his 1,000th career road race.

And remember, he started in a completely different era than today’s, where road races of some sort can be found just about anytime.

“I found a couple of races and entered them and my time just kept getting better,” he said. “I got my friends to do it, and it got to be an addiction. There was the lure of the marathon and I wanted to do a marathon, there weren’t very many around at that time.”

He’s never lost the addiction.

“It’s a very good stress reliever, you don’t have to worry about your weight, you can eat what you want and you don’t have to feel guilty about it,” he said. “It’s not like tennis — you don’t need a partner, you don’t have to reserve court time, you just put your shoes on and go.

“The hardest step is probably that first step out the door in the morning. If you wait for the perfect day to run, you’re not running very often.

“Some days you’re tired, you don’t want to do it, the weather’s bad, so you do short days. You listen to your body. If you forced yourself to do eight miles every day at 4 o’clock, you’d go bonkers.”

Shortly after his road racing career began, Courtney started his timing business (in 1980). That has ballooned the same way his running career has, as he now scores more than 200 races a year. He’s been a fixture at the start/finish line at the Ogden 20K Classic since the early ’90s, and has scored races with as many as 9,000 participants.

As a result of that and the fact that he’s run in half the Ogden 20K Classics, he was inducted into the race’s Hall of Fame Saturday.

“It’s been a good business for me,” he said. “It’s the American dream to find a way to make a business out of your hobby. As a runner, I know what other runners expect in the races they run and that helps me give them what they expect. The idea is, I’m still right in there. Plus, as I get slower and older, I’m still going to be there. On Saturday mornings, I’m typing in names, I’m barking out orders, I’m doing this, and I’m still right in there. A lot of people, as they get older and get slower, stop running and you don’t see them anymore. They don’t participate. Here, even if I can’t run anymore, I’m still a part of the sport.”

On the road, few things have threatened Courtney’s streak.

He had kidney stones, there have been the occasional illnesses and colds, and once early on in the streak, he had foot surgery, which would seem to put a real stopper on things.

But it didn’t. He ran with crutches.

“No regrets at all after this many miles,” he said. “My goal was to run the Boston Marathon before I was 40. I did it 17 times before I was 40, I’ve done it 27 times now. I don’t regret any part of it. I think I’m healthier because of it, my heart’s healthier because of it.

“Everybody said my joints are going to fall apart, but I’ve had so few injuries that have given me problems. I’ve been very lucky.”

After runners reach their goals, they always set them higher. He’s not been 50 very long, but he’s already obliterated just about every goal he set for his golden year.

He wanted to win his age group in Boston. Check.

He wanted to break 17 minutes in a 5K. Check, he did that last week.

“All of these goals that I thought were out of reach, I’ve hit already this year,” he said.

So the running will continue.

“I want to be able to continue to run and race competitively as I can,” he said. “When Mother Nature slows you down, you’ve got to accept it — you can’t run against a 15-year-old.

“But if I’m still running when I’m 65 and still feeling good about it, why not?”