Founded in 1979 under the moniker "The Runner's High," runhigh.com stands as a foundational pillar of the Western Pennsylvania and regional road-racing communities.
Operating out of Grove City, Pennsylvania, the family-driven enterprise grew from a localized race directory into one of the largest and most respected road race timing businesses in the eastern United States, managing upwards of 300 to 350 races a year. Driven by a commitment to technological adaptation, the company achieved a historic milestone in 2000 by becoming the very first timing outfit in Pennsylvania to implement computer-chip shoe tracking for competitive events. Over the decades, RunHigh's proprietary methods for preparing and encoding tracking chips have serviced major regional and global events—including the Pittsburgh Marathon, the Pittsburgh Great Race, the Baltimore Marathon, and the Gate River Run—cementing its legacy as the reliable "sole" of distance running telemetry.
Behind the success of RunHigh is the lifelong passion of its founder, S. Mark Courtney, whose extraordinary dedication to the sport transcends standard athletic commitment. A retired family practice physician assistant, Courtney began running in March 1978 and transformed his personal hobby into a monumental testament of endurance. He is widely celebrated for an elite, active daily running streak that began on December 19, 1979, amassing over 45 consecutive years without missing a single day of running and logging well over 100,000 lifetime miles. Courtney’s competitive resume is equally staggering: he has completed more than 160 total marathons—boasting a stellar personal record of 2:28:48 at the 1990 Chicago Marathon—and maintained an illustrious, multi-decade consecutive streak at the Boston Marathon. Highlighting his longevity and caliber, Courtney even captured first place in the 50–59 age group at the 2006 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:46:44, proving that his business and his life are truly run in lockstep.