Belgium woman runs a marathon every day of the year

On the last day of 2024, Belgian ultra runner Hilde Dosogne finally stopped running, having achieved her goal of running a marathon every day for a year.

Despite feeling weary, but not exhausted, Dosogne crossed the finish line as fellow runners celebrated her extraordinary feat. “I’m glad it’s over,” she said, recalling a collision with a spectator during her final run.

Along with running over 15,444 kilometers in a year, the 55-year-old raised €60,000 for breast cancer research.

Next, she must submit GPS data, photos, videos and witness reports to the Guinness World Records organisation. If approved, she will be credited with the record in around three months.

Dosogne would join Hugo Farias, who holds the male record of 366 days. In the female category, she would surpass the current record of 150 days set by Erchana Murray-Bartlett.

Dosogne emphasises her feat as a testament to personal persistence, having overcome the flu, COVID-19, multiple crashes, blisters and bursitis. She stated that “The mental strain is harder than the physical. Of course, physically, everything has to be okay. Otherwise, you can’t run for four hours every day. But it was more mental to be there at the starting line every day.”

Most of her marathons were on a flat loop around a lake near Ghent, where strong headwinds were a challenge. To ensure accuracy, she ran 42.5 kilometers daily instead of the standard 42.195 kilometers.

Working as a bio-engineer, Dosogne ran marathons every afternoon, maintaining a pace of 10 km/h to allow friends and witnesses to join her.

Her daughter Lucie recalls a day when Dosogne dislocated a finger after 27 kilometers and had to restart the marathon to meet regulations. “She started from scratch again,” said Lucie. “It’s still a little bit crooked,” added Dosogne.