Belgian woman to run marathon every day in 2024 in world record bid sports news
The 55-year-old man ran 15,444 kilometers (9,596 miles) over the course of a year.
Finally arriving on the last day of 2024, Belgian ultrarunner Hilde Dossogne felt she had done what was needed to set a world record as the first woman to run a marathon every day of the year.
Tired, but not seeming to be exhausted by the burden of relentless marathon running, Dossogne emerged from the cold, gray light to cross the line and a crowd of fellow runners celebrated an extraordinary accomplishment.
“I’m glad it’s over,” she said after crossing the line Tuesday, reliving the last accident of many when she collided with a spectator during her final race.
In addition to the award for her perseverance in running at least 15,444 kilometers (9,596 miles) in a year, the 55-year-old also raised nearly 60,000 euros ($62,438) for breast cancer research.
Now came the turn of filing GPS data, photo and video evidence and independent witness reports, which he had to collect daily, to meet the requirements of the Guinness World Records organization. If approved, the record should officially be his in about three months.
The 55-year-old will join Brazilian Hugo Farias, who holds the men’s record for 366 days, which he achieved on August 28, 2023 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In the women’s category, Dossogne will be in a league of her own as Australia’s Archana Murray-Bartlett holds the current record of 150 days.
One thing’s for sure: She doesn’t want her accomplishment to be a shining example of healthy living — more of personal perseverance, as she’s endured the flu, COVID-19, more than a dozen accidents, blisters, and even That had to fight bursitis. However, overall, the brain took the hardest hit.
“Mental stress is harder than physical. Of course, physically, everything should be fine. Otherwise, you can’t run for four hours every day. But being on the start-line every day was more mental,” she told news agency The Associated Press.
Dossoigne was able to do most of her marathon on a flat loop around a stretch of water, just outside the university city of Ghent, where a strong headwind could be her toughest competitor.
Even there, she said, she would not take any statistical risks and instead of 42.195 km (26.2 mi) in a day, she made sure her race was 42.5 km (26.4 mi) – just to be safe.
Dossogne wishes she could have extended her days like this.
As a bio-engineer at a chemical firm, he started especially early so he could run marathons every afternoon. And because she couldn’t run at top speed every day, she stuck to an easier 10 km/h (6.2 mph), allowing friends and witnesses to follow along.
The only time when his daughter Lucy felt she would not make it was the day she crashed after 27 km (16.7 mi), she had to be taken to the emergency ward with a dislocated finger and was there. So much time was spent that he was not allowed to complete the work. Marathon by regulation. Solution? “He started from scratch again,” Lucy said.
“It’s still a little sketchy,” Dossogne said.
