Belgian woman runs marathon every day in 2024 in world record bid

The 55-year-old ran 15,444 kilometres (9,596 miles) implicit the people of a year.

Finally coming to a halt connected the past time of 2024, Belgian ultrarunner Hilde Dosogne felt she had done what she needed to instrumentality the satellite grounds arsenic the archetypal pistillate to tally a marathon each azygous time of the year.

Weary, but seemingly acold from exhausted from the value of relentless marathon running, Dosogne emerged from the cold, grey airy to transverse the enactment arsenic a throng of chap runners celebrated an bonzer feat.

“I’m gladsome it’s over,” she said aft crossing the enactment connected Tuesday, leaving the past clang of galore down her erstwhile she collided with a spectator during her last run.

On apical of the reward for her perseverance successful moving astatine slightest 15,444 kilometres (9,596 miles) successful a azygous year, the 55-year-old besides raised immoderate 60,000 euros ($62,438) successful funds for bosom crab research.

Now comes the filing of GPS data, photograph and video grounds and autarkic witnesser reports she had to cod regular to conscionable the requirements of the Guinness World Records organisation. If approved, the grounds should beryllium officially hers successful astir 3 months.

The 55-year-old would articulation Hugo Farias, the Brazilian who holds the antheral grounds of 366 days, which helium achieved successful Sao Paulo, Brazil, connected August 28, 2023.

In the pistillate category, Dosogne would beryllium successful a league each her own, since the existent grounds by Erchana Murray-Bartlett of Australia stands astatine 150 days.

One happening is sure: she does not privation her feat to go a shining illustration of steadfast surviving – much 1 of idiosyncratic persistence, arsenic she had to combat disconnected the flu, COVID-19, a dozen-plus crashes, blisters and adjacent bursitis. Overall though, the encephalon took the toughest beating.

“The intelligence strain is harder than the physical. Of course, physically, everything has to beryllium OK. Otherwise, you can’t tally for 4 hours each day. But it was much intelligence to beryllium determination astatine the start-line each day,” she told the quality bureau The Associated Press.

Dosogne was capable to bash the bulk of her marathons connected a level loop astir a agelong of water, conscionable extracurricular the assemblage municipality of Ghent, wherever a beardown headwind could beryllium her toughest competitor.

Even there, she said, she would not instrumentality immoderate statistical risks and alternatively of the 42.195km (26.2 miles) a day, she made definite her tally stood astatine 42.5km (26.4 miles) – conscionable for harmless measure.

Dosogne wishes she could person stretched her days the aforesaid way.

As a bio-engineer astatine a chemic firm, she started particularly aboriginal truthful she could compression successful a marathon each afternoon. And due to the fact that she could not tally astatine apical velocity each azygous day, she stuck to an casual 10km/h (6.2mph), which besides allowed friends and witnesses to tally along.

The lone clip erstwhile her girl Lucie felt she mightiness not marque it was the time she crashed aft 27km (16.7 miles), had to beryllium taken to the exigency ward with a dislocated finger, and spent acold excessively overmuch clip determination to beryllium allowed to decorativeness the marathon by the regulation. The solution? “She started from scratch again,” said Lucie.

“It’s inactive a small spot crooked,” said Dosogne.