Stefaan Engels

Stefaan Engels
Nationality Belgian
Occupation Endurance athlete, motivational speaker
Awards World record holder for most triathlons in a year and most consecutive marathons

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 also holds the record for the most Ironman Triathlons in a year with 20 over 2007 and 2008.

Engels averaged around four hours to complete each marathon with a best time of 2 hours and 56 minutes. He ran 15,401 kilometres (9,570 mi) during his marathons over 2010. Engels said that a slow pace was the key.[2] 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.[3]

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." [4]

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

See also

References

  1. "Belgian Stefaan Engels completes record 365th marathon". BBC. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  2. "The ultimate marathon man: Belgian runner breaks record with 365 in a single year". Daily Mail online. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  3. "Ricardo Abad breaks guiness record running 366 marathons in 366 consecutive days". Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2011.
  4. Fuchs, Dale (7 February 2011). "'A very long year' - runner completes 365 marathons". NZ Herald. Retrieved 8 February 2011.

External links


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