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.
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.
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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
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