Columbus man prepares for his 100th marathon this weekend

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — When thousands of runners take to the starting line for the Columbus Marathon, some will be running the 26.2 miles for the first time. Others, maybe their second or third time.

But Columbus's own Steve Salopek stands alone, as he will lace it up for his 100th career marathon.

"I just want to go out and enjoy it and have fun," Salopek said. "I mean, they're all the same, you know? They all hurt, but you know what you figure out as you go on? You know what's coming. You always know what's coming and, you know, it's a little bit of pain for a lot of pleasure. So, I'm really looking forward to it."

Salopek ran his first marathon when he was 24 years old in 1987. Never did he imagine he would be running his 100th marathon 38 years later.

"Oh, absolutely not," Salopek said. "After the first one, I went home and laid down, took a shower, which is exactly what you shouldn't do, is get into hot water. And I thought, 'I'm never doing that again,' and about a week later, I started to think, 'You know what? That was actually that was kind of fun.'”

This 100th race is actually one year delayed. While on a training run, Salopek was attacked by three dogs off their leash, just five weeks before the 2024 race.

"You take something like 30,000 steps in a marathon and with the damage to my leg, it was tough," Salopek said. "The damage that it did, it impacted my leg strength, and it was hard to get back both the strength and the flexibility.

“It's one thing to go for a walk,” he said. “It's another thing to pound your body for 30,000 steps. And it was just a matter of whether my body was going to be able to take it or not. And so far, so good."

So, the man who has raced across the country, from Hawaii to New York to Boston, is back pounding the pavement. But there's no place like home for this milestone marathon.

"My wife and I were talking about where I wanted to do my hundredth," Salopek said. "You know, we gave some consideration to a destination, and we just decided, you know what? This is where we're from. It's where we're from. It's where we live. And there's no other place that I'd rather do this."