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 Guinness 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.


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