"I don't regard my marathon year as torture. It is 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." Stefaan
It all started on January 1, 2010. Stefaan Engels would run one daily marathon for one year. After only 18 days of marathons a foot injury almost stopped him in his tracks. Refusing to be grounded, he kept going using a tricycle adapted for hand-power. Exactly 18 days later, on February 6 he started to runn again and decided to give the counting a new start.
On March 30, he dethroned the previous recordholder, Japanese runner Akinori Kusuda, who ran 52 consecutive marathons at age 65 in 2009.
The city of Ghent was Stefaan's home base. That was where the postman delivered his letters, where journalists came and see him, where people could meet and run with him daily and where he ran for charity. As a sportsembassador he was rewarded by the major of the city of Ghent after his record. To avoid boredom and to keep things liveable, Stefaan regularly ran elsewhere and participated in 12 official marathons worldwide during this year. Thanks to his Spanish sponsor Pronokal, a weight management company, Stefaan was able to escape from the cold winterdays in Belgium and run in sunnier locations throughout the year.
His itinerary included several marathons in Europe and overseas: the US, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Holland, Germany and the UK.
Throughout the year Stefaan was accompanied by a support team, which included a sports doctor and a blood test clinic , who monitored his condition weekly.
They were allowed to step in if the test values were to drop dangerously. But that was never necessary. Stefaan appeared to register relatively stable values and he had an exceptional recovery capacity. Engels attributes his endurance to a quick recovery rate and a slow heart beat.
During this Feel Good Tour Stefaan ran exactly 15401,175 kilometers, lost 15kg, destroyed 25 pairs of trainers and drew thousands of supportive runners to his side.
Stefaan averaged about 4 hours to complete a marathon. His best time during this year was at the First edition of the marathon of Ghent, of which Stefaan is the inspiror and initiator. He succeeded in 3 hours 23 minutes. His worst time was the day of his injury, 6 hours 29 minutes. His best time ever was 2 hours and 57 minutes in Amsterdam in 2006.
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