by Eyder Peralta
In total, Stefaan Engels of Belgium covered 9,569 miles.
He completed the Barcelona Marathon and finished a feat in which he ran 365 marathons over the course of the year. That's 26.2 miles of running a day for the 365 days.
"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.
Engels told the AP that he ran despite his doctor's insistence that he shouldn't run because he had asthma:
But he decided to overcome his ailment and ran his first marathon at 25. He said his latest feat is the result of 35 years of exercise.
"There were a lot of moments when I thought 'Today, I won't finish,'" he said. "One of the hardest moments was in Mexico City after a long flight, the altitude and I had gotten sick from eating something, and I thought 'What am I doing here?'"
According to CNN and the AP, which quote the Guinness Book of World Records, Engels smashed the previous record held by Akinori Kusuda who ran 52 consecutive races in 2009.
