(This story has been updated to add new information and to add a photo or video.)

On a warm April morning in the age of disco, Tim Repper began a family tradition that he never imagined.

"My older brother [Ned] told me about this big race coming to town, and asked me to run it with him," he said. "I really wasn't a runner, but I decided to try."

Repper tried it in 1978, and he hasn't stopped since.

Now 66, Repper is the youngest of the 18 remaining Gate River Run streakers, the runners to complete each of the 15-kilometer races through downtown Jacksonville, San Marco and St. Nicholas since the race's 1978 inception.

After that race, he said, he and his brother agreed on the banks of the St. Johns River to keep completing the race as long as they could. And while a leg injury ended Ned Repper's streak years ago, Tim Repper is still going 48 years strong.

The times get slower, he said, but the excitement never diminishes.

"On Saturday, it's go time," he said.

Family led the Argyle resident to the race, and for the Reppers, Gate River Run weekend is still a family celebration.

Tim Repper said he keeps a framed Times-Union page from the 1999 race, when daughter Missy (now Missy Paxton) ran the event alongside him for the first time, and the two crossed the finish line together just outside Alltel Stadium.

"The next day, our picture was on the front page of the Times-Union," he said. "That was pretty cool."

Pretty cool this time, he said, will be accompanying Missy's daughter, Joseph Paxton, along the route for Saturday's race. Repper said his grandson, 14, will be competing in his first Gate River Run.

He's now part of a multi-generational extended family of runners, and it all started on that April day in 1978.

"We always have a River Run party after every race," he said. "It kind of kicks off spring, like an annual event that everyone celebrates in our family."

The most magic number of all for the streakers, he said in a remote interview with the Times-Union, is two years away.

"When we get to that big 5-0, there's going to be a lot of happy streakers," he said.

GATE RIVER RUN NUMBERS

The 2025 Gate River Run begins Saturday morning as the race winds through downtown Jacksonville, San Marco and St. Nicholas. Here are some of the numbers to know.

0: The number of spots left in the Gate River Run field. Race organizers declared the race a sell-out around 8 p.m. Thursday and closed registration, setting the stage for the largest field of finishers for more than a decade.

1 : Edition of the Gate River Run to be held as part of the PRRO Circuit. Saturday's race is the first.

3 : The number of Olympic appearances for Patrick Tiernan of Australia, among the contenders.

5 : Minutes between the elite women's start at 7:55 a.m. and the elite men's start five minutes afterward.

8: Paired with a.m., the time for the main field start on Saturday morning.

13 : Bands lining the Gate River Run course.

14 : Position of the alphabet for the letter N. Lot N is among an estimated 2,000 parking spaces now unavailable for runners this year due to construction around EverBank Stadium. Race director Doug Alred urges runners to arrive well in advance.

15 : Kilometers covered from start to finish in the Gate River Run, equivalent to a little more than 9 miles.

18 : Eligible remaining streakers, the runners to complete every edition of the Gate River Run.

30 : Years since Todd Williams ran a course-record 42:22 at the 1995 Gate River Run.

47 : Minutes for Shalane Flanagan to complete the course in 2014, the women's record. Race organizers expect the record could be in jeopardy on Saturday due to the speed of the international field and near-ideal forecast weather conditions.

48 : Number of Gate River Runs contested since the inaugural race in 1978.

48 : Forecast low for Saturday morning in downtown Jacksonville, according to the National Weather Service.

1,680 : In feet, length of the Main Street Bridge, the first of the two bridges that runners encounter.

3,844 : In feet, length of the Hart Bridge, the dreaded Green Monster.

5,000 : In dollars, the value of the Equalizer Bonus for the first overall runner across the finish line.

15,300 : Estimated entrants for the 15K run as of Thursday.

62,000 : In dollars, the total value of the Gate River Run purse.

94,000 : In square feet, the size of the Daily's Place Flex Field used for the Gate River Run Expo.