Hilde Dosogne – Marathon Woman 366: Running 366 Marathons in a Year at Age 55 to Break a Guinness World Record cover art

Hilde Dosogne – Marathon Woman 366: Running 366 Marathons in a Year at Age 55 to Break a Guinness World Record

Hilde Dosogne – Marathon Woman 366: Running 366 Marathons in a Year at Age 55 to Break a Guinness World Record

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 At age 55, Belgian runner Hilde Dosogne set out to break boundaries — and did just that. In 2024, she ran 366 marathons in 366 days, earning her the title of Guinness World Record holder for most consecutive marathons in a year. What makes Hilde’s journey so extraordinary is not just the distance she covered, but the relentless dedication she showed while working part-time and managing her daily life with laser-focused discipline. Known as Marathon Woman 366, Hilde didn’t grow up in a sporty family. In fact, she didn’t seriously take up running until her 40s. But once she did, she never looked back — moving from her first marathon with her husband in 2013 to ultra events like the Marathon des Sables and the legendary Spartathlon in Greece. Inspired by endurance runner Candice Burt, who ran an ultra a day, Hilde set a goal that was bold yet (just) manageable alongside her career — a marathon every single day for an entire year. From battling injuries and illness, to running through Belgian storms and even dislocating a finger mid-run, Hilde’s story is one of mental toughness, resilience, and unwavering self-belief. In this episode, Hilde shares: Why she decided to take on this incredible challengeHow she structured her days and managed recoveryThe highs and lows of running every single dayThe mental strategies that helped her keep goingHer thoughts on aging, performance, and redefining what's possible at 55The deep sense of joy and freedom she finds in running Hilde’s story is a reminder that it’s never too late to start something extraordinary — and that the only limits are the ones we place on ourselves. New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast drop every Tuesday at 7 AM UK time. Subscribe and be inspired by stories of women pushing their physical and mental limits across adventure, endurance, and exploration. Support the mission to increase the visibility of female role models in adventure and sport: www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast Show notes Who is HildeLiving in Belgium55 years oldMarried with 4 children aged between 18 and 26 years oldWorking in a chemical company and being passionate about runningBeing known as Marathon Woman 366Not growing up in a sporty family and not being encouraged to do sports when she was youngerGetting into running after her children were growing up Being focused on building up her career and raising her children Reaching 40 years old and wanting to lose some weight and deciding to run a marathon with her husband in 2013How her running progressed and wanting to run more marathons and then wanting to run faster and then furtherGetting a lot of satisfaction from achieving her goals and pushing her limitsDeciding to run the coastline of Belgium - 74kmWanting to know what else she could do Deciding to run the Marathon des Sables in Morocco Struggling with sleep in the open tent, and dealing with the sandstorm and the noisy people in the tentRunning Spartathlon Ultra Race Running from Athens to Sparta - having 36 hrs to complete the race Needing to qualify for the SpartathlonRunning 170km in 24 hrs in 2022Running the race again in 2023 and running 1 hr faster than the year beforeBeing inspired by Candice Burt running an ultra marathon everyday Realising that running an ultra marathon a day would take up too much time everydayDeciding to run a marathon everyday and break a world record Feeling that running a marathon everyday would be achievable while working at the same timeStarting to plan for the event in summer 2024 - wanting to run with other people Applying to Guinness World Records and figuring out the logistics for evidence The time commitment involved and trying to run with other people Being commitment to the hours she was running The hard days, especially when she was feeling sick Dealing with stomach pain and covid. Falling while running and dislocating her finger Dealing with bad weather especially at the start of the year Struggling with her sleep and feeling too excited from the running both physically and emotionally Sleeping during her lunch breakNeeding to have her days very strictly scheduled The time commitment of running, social media and the info for Guinness World RecordsThe mindset of taking on a daily challenge like thisHer resilience coming from having a strict childhood and being very disciplinedSeeing her running as a job Feeling gratitude for while she was running Raising funds for breast cancer patients Being supported by the people who ran with her and also supported via social media Daily recovery strategies - having a recovery shake, baths, stretching and a massage 1x per weekBeing supported by her husband in the house Getting to the end of 366 marathonsRunning the last week in pain, due to a hamstring injury Preparing an event for the last dayHer body was telling her to stop running Stopping running on the 1st January 2025 Feeling very happy that it was over!Getting back into ...
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