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 challenge
- How she structured her days and managed recovery
- The highs and lows of running every single day
- The mental strategies that helped her keep going
- Her thoughts on aging, performance, and redefining what's possible at 55
- The 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.
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Show notes
- Who is Hilde
- Living in Belgium
- 55 years old
- Married with 4 children aged between 18 and 26 years old
- Working in a chemical company and being passionate about running
- Being known as Marathon Woman 366
- Not growing up in a sporty family and not being encouraged to do sports when she was younger
- Getting 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 2013
- How her running progressed and wanting to run more marathons and then wanting to run faster and then further
- Getting a lot of satisfaction from achieving her goals and pushing her limits
- Deciding to run the coastline of Belgium - 74km
- Wanting 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 tent
- Running Spartathlon Ultra Race
- Running from Athens to Sparta - having 36 hrs to complete the race
- Needing to qualify for the Spartathlon
- Running 170km in 24 hrs in 2022
- Running the race again in 2023 and running 1 hr faster than the year before
- Being inspired by Candice Burt running an ultra marathon everyday
- Realising that running an ultra marathon a day would take up too much time everyday
- Deciding to run a marathon everyday and break a world record
- Feeling that running a marathon everyday would be achievable while working at the same time
- Starting 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 break
- Needing to have her days very strictly scheduled
- The time commitment of running, social media and the info for Guinness World Records
- The mindset of taking on a daily challenge like this
- Her resilience coming from having a strict childhood and being very disciplined
- Seeing 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 week
- Being supported by her husband in the house
- Getting to the end of 366 marathons
- Running the last week in pain, due to a hamstring injury
- Preparing an event for the last day
- Her body was telling her to stop running
- Stopping running on the 1st January 2025
- Feeling very happy that it was over!
- Getting back into running/walking 10 days later
- Wanting to do the Spartathlon for the 3rd time
- Becoming the 24hrs running Belgium Champion
- Listening to podcasts and music to pass the time
- Not experiencing many affects from perimenopause and menopause
- Nutrition and fuelling while running a marathon everyday
- Which is harder running a fast 5k or running a longer distance?
- Stretching, foam rolling, core stability exercises and bike riding
- The biggest lessons learned from taking on this challenge
- Why the human body can do much more than what we think
- Doing this challenge at 55 years old
- Running an average time of 4hrs 5 mins for each marathon
- Why you can start running at any age
- Training for the Spartathlon 2025 with a running coach
- Running coach Benny Fisher
- How to connect with Hilde on line
- Words of advice for runners
- The mind is stronger than the body
- If you think you can't anymore, you have to think you can do it. Even if you are at a low point in a race. You need to know that it can get better.
- Why the only reason to stop is if you have a serious injury.
- Believe that it can get better
- Think about how you will feel when you give up
- Think about the people that support you and they will be very happy that you finish and disappointed if you don't
- Do it for a charity, so you know you are not only doing it for yourself.
- You have to be strong psychically and mentally
- Prepare yourself for the difficult moments in the race and think through all the different scenarios that could happen
Social Media
Website: www.hildedosogne.be/en
Instagram: @marathonwoman366/
Facebook: @marathonwoman.2024
Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/51029211