Ran After Work... A Woman in Her 50s Completed a Full Marathon Every Day for a Year

Successfully Completed Full Course 366 Consecutive Days
Submitting Recording Devices for Guinness Registration Planned

A woman in her 50s is expected to enter the Guinness World Records after completing a full marathon course of 42.195 km every day for one year.

On December 31st last year, Hilda Doson was reaching the finish line of her 366th full marathon. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

On the 1st (local time), AP News and others reported that Hilda Doson (55), a Belgian national, set a world record by successfully completing a full marathon course on the last day of 2024. Doson, who worked at a chemical company, ran the full marathon course every day without fail after work. She ran 42.5 km each day, slightly longer than the marathon distance of 42.195 km, to account for small errors that could occur with GPS devices or distance measurements. Doson plans to officially certify the world record with Guinness by submitting accumulated location data, photos, and videos.

To prevent injuries, Doson did not run at her maximum speed every day but maintained a pace of about 10 km/h, running for about 4 hours daily. This was also a speed at which friends and witnesses could run alongside her. As a non-professional athlete, Doson was able to work from early morning with the cooperation of her colleagues and then run the marathon in the afternoon. Additionally, Doson ran at least 15,444 km over the year, raising about 60,000 euros (approximately 90 million KRW) for breast cancer treatment research funds.

On December 31 last year, Hilda Doson blew out the candles on a congratulatory cake after crossing the finish line of her 366th full marathon. Photo by AP Yonhap News

After completing her final run, Doson emphasized, "While physical preparation was important, the mental pressure was even more difficult," adding, "I faced the starting line every day with mental strength rather than physical stamina." Moreover, Doson had to fight against the flu, COVID-19, 12 collision accidents, blisters, and even bursitis, while strong winds along the river where she ran posed another challenge.

Each day was not smooth. Doson also faced the risk of her record being interrupted. Her daughter said, "There was one day when I thought my mother wouldn’t be able to run the marathon," explaining, "She dislocated a finger after running 27 km and had to go to the emergency room." However, Doson returned to the starting line to complete the full course to achieve her record. Her finger is still slightly bent, she added. Regarding this, Doson stressed, "I want the record I set to be seen not as a shining example of a healthy lifestyle but as a case of personal perseverance."

Meanwhile, the previous female record was held by Erzana Murray-Bartlett (Australia), who ran marathons for 150 consecutive days. Among men, Hugo Farias from Brazil set a record of 366 days last August and was listed in the Guinness World Records.