From The Independent:
Belgian enters the record books with 365 marathons in a year
By Dale Fuchs in Madrid
Monday, 7 February 2011
Stefaan Engels adds new meaning to the word "globetrotter". The 49-year-old Belgian athlete, known as Marathon Man, has completed 365 races in a year, speeding through seven countries at the staggering rate of one 42km marathon a day.
At the weekend, he set a Guinness world record for consecutive marathons as he crossed the finish line in the Spanish city of Barcelona. He set out on 5 February last year from his hometown of Ghent and emerged more than 15,000km later at Saturday's Carretera de les Aigües race, pumping his fit, tanned arms and flashing a toothy smile beneath a shock of silver hair.
"It's been a very, very long year," he told the Spanish news agency Efe after the final stretch. Along the way, the former designer and sports promoter lost 15kg (33lb), destroyed 25 pairs of trainers and drew thousands of supportive runners to his side. His average time: four hours per marathon at the "slow" pace of 10km per hour. His best finish was 2 hours and 56 minutes. Exhausted just thinking about it? It wasn't so hard after all, he says.
"Run, Forrest, run!"
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