JOHANNESBURG - Julian Karp (65) started running to try recover from an injury.
Little did he know that 35 years years later he would be running his 1000th marathon at the Soweto Marathon on Saturday.
Karp ran the very first Soweto Marathon at its launch in the early 90s, therefore, it is not surprising that his feat feels like a full circle moment.
He has, to date, run 18, Soweto Marathons
Born in Johannesburg, Karp had always been active, playing various types of sport from school until university. He calls Durban home, but has been based at Hartebeespoort for the last three years.
"I hurt my knee and could no longer run," says Karp.
"A friend of mine who was a doctor suggested I try running 5km and so on," he adds.
After running what was known as the Peninsular Marathon in 1990, at the age of 30, the running bug bit.
'That is where the idea of 1,000 marathons came from,' he says.
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What made it even more appealing was the opportunity to travel. Karp has run many marathons across South Africa.
'I have gone to places I wouldn't have had the opportunity to travel to if it weren't for running.'
Karp has, to date, ran 280 ultra-marathons, which include 29 Comrades marathons and 25 Two Oceans marathons.
Along with a group of 70 people called a bus in running, Karp wishes to run a 'slow' 5 hours 45 minutes run. Anyone keen to join the bus on the trail is more than welcome.
This will be Karp's last long-distance run has he attends to his back injury, among others. Should he recovery effectively, he will focus on smaller races including 5km Parkruns.
He is also passionate about developing future runners and will be spending his time helping at running clubs where he can.