How Gary McKee overcame rain, injury, and a hospital visit to run a marathon every day of the year

By George Ramsay, CNN

Updated 0958 GMT (1758 HKT) February 3, 2023

Gary McKee (right) completed a 365-day streak of marathon running in 2022.

(CNN)It's little wonder Gary McKee has been nicknamed «marathon man.» He ran one every day last year.

Were McKee to go through the process of getting his superhuman feat of endurance and perseverance ratified, it would comfortably be a Guinness World Record. That currently stands at 106 days of consecutive marathon running for women and 62 for men. But well before he embarked on the challenge, completing the first of his 365 marathons on January 1 last year, McKee was never interested in getting his name in the record books. «I've always said records are for DJs and I'm not a DJ,» he quips. Instead, the 53-year-old sought to raise money for two charities — one offering support for cancer patients and their families and another providing end of life care. He's raised close to $1.5 million so far, surpassing his initial target of £1,000,000 ($1.24 million).Read More«I don't need to have a record, it isn't what I've done it for,» McKee tells CNN Sport. «To do that, it would have meant that the challenge was about me, and it wasn't about me. It was about me helping other people. It was nothing for personal gain.»No personal gain perhaps, but for those in McKee's hometown of Cleator Moor in the northwest of England, the Three Six Five Challenge helped to energize and unify the local community. McKee celebrates reaching day 300. By the end of the year, around 200 people had run full marathons with him and 70 had accompanied him on bikes. Others helped by providing sneakers, meals, cups of tea and towels as he went about running 26.2 miles each day. When he completed his last marathon on