Told by doctors not to indulge in sports because of asthma during his childhood, former graphic designer, 49-year-old Stefaan Engels of Ghent, Belgium has proven that human afflictions are not impediments to success.
The disease becomes a big challenge to him so with zeal, dedication and enthusiasm, he set upon himself the task of getting rid of his asthma by resolving to start running the grueling 42.195- kilometer marathon distance.
He did practice running without letup.
Lazy sometimes to do practice? Listen to him.
"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."
Last year, Marathon Man began his challenge in his country in Belgium and has since run a marathon every day across 7 countries.
From being an asthmatic child, he developed himself through running to become the world’s Marathon Man.
"Marathon Man" has covered a distance of 15,401 kilometers since setting off from his home town of Ghent on February 5 2010, participating in races in Spain, Portugal, Canada, Mexico, Britain and United States, as well as several in his native country.
On Saturday he completed his record of 365th marathon races a year by crossing the finish line in the Spanish city of Barcelona after running 15,000 km. in a year.
"I don't regard my marathon year as torture. It is more like a regular job," the 49-year-old said.
He averaged about four hours to complete a marathon. He said his best time was 2 hours and 56 minutes.
Before Engels, the record marathon man was Akinori Kusuda of Japan - who ran 52 races in a row at the age of 65 in 2009.
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