Stefaan Engels

Stefaan Engels (born 7 April 1961, Ghent, Belgium), also known as "marathon man", is a Belgian marathoner and triathlete, the first man to run the marathon distance 365 consecutive times in a single year.[1] He previously held the record for the most Ironman Triathlons in a year with 20 over 2007 and 2008 - see James Lawrence (triathlete)

Stefaan Engels
NationalityBelgian
Occupation(s)Endurance athlete, motivational speaker
AwardsWorld record holder for most triathlons in a year and most consecutive marathons

Engels averaged around four hours to complete each marathon with the best time of 3 hours and 21 minutes. He ran 15,401 kilometres (9,570 mi) during his marathons over 2010. Engels said that a slow pace was the key. Before him, the record was held by Ricardo Abad Martínez of Spain with 150 marathons in a row in 2009. Abad is the current world record holder.[2]

Of his feats, Engels described: "I don't regard my marathon year as torture. It's more like a regular job...I am running just as Joe Average goes to work on Monday morning, whether or not he feels like it. I don't always feel like running, but when I am done, I take a shower, have some physiotherapy for an hour, and that wraps up my day."[3]

Growing up Engels had asthma and was instructed to avoid activity.

See also
  • Serge Girard, holder of the world record distance traveled on foot in one year (27,011 kilometres (16,784 mi))

References
  1. "Belgian Stefaan Engels completes record 365th marathon". BBC. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  2. "Ricardo Abad breaks Guinness record running 366 marathons in 366 consecutive days". Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2011.
  3. Fuchs, Dale (7 February 2011). "'A very long year' - runner completes 365 marathons". NZ Herald. Retrieved 8 February 2011.


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