One marathon every day for a year!

An amazing gesture to motivate people to get going

MONTREAL, Aug. 25 /CNW Telbec/ - Known as the Marathonman, Belgian native Stefaan Engels will undertake seven runs in seven days in Montréal in the process of achieving his goal of running one marathon every day of the year, for a total of 365 marathons! Having launched this adventure on January 1 of this year, the 49-year-old man describes himself as "an ordinary guy" and quickly denies doing this for fame and glory. Rather, his purpose is to motivate people to be more physically active and to adopt a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

The man who attracts incredulous attention and admiration everywhere he goes will put on his running shoes in Montréal from August 30 to September 5. He will undertake six runs of 42.2 km at Lafontaine Park before taking on the Montréal Marathon circuit to complete his 212th run of the year!

His exploits have already earned the Marathonman a certain measure of fame in Europe. At this rate, he will have covered 15,401 km by February 5, 2011. Despite his current project, Stefaan Engels is not a high-level athlete and nothing about him suggested that he would become the role model for perseverance that he is today. He suffered from asthma in his youth and worked in tradeshow design until he chose to launch what initially seemed to be an insane project. "Everything is possible when you set up objectives and have the will to reach them," declared the Marathonman. "We all have the power to make changes in our lives for the better."

The Marathonman's stay in Montréal has been made possible thanks to the support of PronoKal®, who has developed a strict scientific weight treatment method. This method helps patients reach their goals by combining medical know-how and multidisciplinary support. Newly established in Montréal, PronoKal® is already cooperating with physicians and nutritionists by conducting training workshops on how to apply the PronoKal® medical protocol.

"Like it does with all its patients, the PronoKal® team fully supports Stefaan Engels. PronoKal® and Stefaan share three objectives: to show that it is necessary to fully commit to a goal in order to reach it, whether it is to run one marathon every day or to lose weight and to keep it off; to stress that teamwork is essential when the objective is difficult to reach; and finally, to motivate people to become physically active as part of a healthy lifestyle," explained Michael Papaceit, General Manager for PronoKal Canada.

Since the beginning of his endeavour, Marathonman has received encouragement from all sides. Whether running aficionados or not, thousands of people have been following his progress through marathons in Barcelona, Rotterdam, Madrid, Düsseldorf and Torhout as well as "free" runs.

Montrealers are invited to cheer on the Marathonman and join him on foot, by bike, on in-line skates, pushing a stroller or otherwise during his various runs. Everyone is free to join him at any time during his runs.

Marathon schedule:  

Lafontaine Park (PronoKal® booth, located near the Centre culturel Calixa-Lavallée)
From Monday, August 30 to Friday, September 3, from 3:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.;
Saturday, September 4, from noon to 4:30 p.m.

Montréal Marathon
Sunday, September 5, at 9:00 a.m.

For further information:

Source:
PronoKal Canada
Tel.: [phone]

Information:
Brigitte Filiatrault
Enigma communications
Tel.: [phone]
Cell.: 514.702.2744
[email protected]