Finally coming to a halt on Tuesday -- the last day of 2024 -- Belgian ultra runner Hilde Dosogne felt she had done all to take the world record as the first woman to run a marathon every single day of the year.
"I'm glad it's over," Dosogne said after crossing the line in Ghent, Belgium, leaving the last crash of many behind her when she collided with a spectator during her final run.
On top of the reward for her perseverance in running at least 15,444 kilometers in a single year, the 55-year-old also raised some 60,000 euros (HK$482,650) in funds for breast cancer research.
Now comes the filing of GPS data, photo and video evidence and independent witness reports she had to collect daily to meet the requirements of the Guinness World Records organization. If approved, the record should be officially hers in about three months.
Dosogne would join Hugo Farias, the Brazilian who holds the male record of 366 days, which he achieved in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on August 28, 2023.
In the female category, Dosogne would be in a league all her own, since the current record by Australian Erchana Murray-Bartlett, set on January 16, 2023, stands at 150 days.
She doesn't want her feat to become a shining example of healthy living - more one of personal persistence, as she had to fight off the flu, Covid-19, a dozen-plus crashes, blisters and even bursitis.
"The mental strain is harder than the physical," she said. "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 start-line every day."
Dosogne was able to do the majority of her marathons on a flat loop around a stretch of water, just outside the university town of Ghent. Even there, she said, she would not take any statistical risks and instead of the 42.195 kms a day, she made sure her run stood at 42.5 km - just for safe measure with the Guinness administrators.
As a bio-engineer at a chemical firm, Dosogne starts her day especially early so she could squeeze in a marathon every afternoon. And because she could not run at top speed every single day, she stuck to an easy 10 km/h.
The only time when her daughter Lucie felt she might not make it was the day she crashed after 27 kilometers, had to be taken to the emergency ward with a dislocated finger, and spent far too much time there to be allowed to finish the marathon by the regulation.
The solution? "She started from scratch again," said Lucie.
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Hilde Dosogne crosses the finish line in Ghent. AFP
