Way back in February, when the coronavirus seemed like it was contained to just China, we shared a story about a unique training method that an ultrarunner had come up with there. Confined to his home, that athlete reportedly ran more than 100km in his living room in order to avoid potential exposure to the virus. Now that COVID-19 has spread to much of the rest of the world, we’re all trying to find ways to deal with the global pandemic that has upended our lives. That includes a French runner named Elisha Nochomovitz, who came up with his own way of continuing to get his training in, even during a lockdown.
Nochomovitz lives in Toulouse, France where he—along with most everyone else in the country—is currently restricted to staying mostly at home. Prior to the restrictions being put into place however, he was preparing to run a marathon, so when he was told he had to stay at home, he looked for new ways to stay fit and active. That resulted in him running a full marathon on his balcony, which is just 7 meters (23 feet) in length. Back and fourth he went, covering the same short distance, until he was able to run an entire 26.2 mile (42 km) marathon without ever breaking quarantine. His time for this isolated run? 6 hours and 48 minutes, which is respectable all things considered.
Right now, we’re all looking for ways to cope with being closed in and asked to restrict our movement. I know that I have been continuing my mostly-daily runs, but I generally go by myself and don’t approach anyone else. Thankfully, this helps with the cabin fever and helps to get me outside some. I’m not sure I could run a long distance over the same small space for six hours at a time, mostly due to boredom rather than the distance itself. That said, I still admire the perseverance and focus that these athletes display.
Tip of the hat to my friends at the Adventure Journal for sharing this story.
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