Yahoo News This runner just did a half marathon on his 3m balcony
Sam Hustler, aged 27, like many thousands of other runners, was due to take part in the London Landmarks Half Marathon on Sunday 29 March. The race, which starts in Leicester Square, takes runners past famous London landmarks, such as Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Shard. The race was understandably postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, with organisers encouraging runners to take part in their virtual Local Landmarks challenge, while awaiting a new date in the autumn.
Rather than let his training go to waste, Sam decided to take up his own challenge, running the entire half marathon on his three-metre balcony. Sam completed 5,500 laps of his balcony in order to cover the full 13.1 mile distance.
While runners are still allowed to run outside in the UK, Sam has been self-isolating for the past week, after his girlfriend developed a fever and a cough. Instead of forgetting the challenge, Sam decided to run on his balcony in South Woodford, Essex and completed the challenge in three hours and 42 minutes. Sam has been fundraising for Haven House - a children’s hospice in Essex. He has now raised three times his original target.
Talking to news publications, Sam said, “It was going to be my first ever half-marathon and I was excited to do it, so it was devastating when it was cancelled.
"I had put so much training in and it's such a great cause I am running for, that I wanted to still do it anyway I could.
"I saw a video of a man in Italy who ran a full marathon on his balcony so I thought I could do a half-marathon on mine.
"I did a little 2km run on it on Tuesday and I thought well it's boring, but I can do it.”
After his run, Sam added, “ “I will never in my life run on my balcony again - it’s reserved for drinking and only drinking. The worst thing was that I couldn’t pick up any pace because there’s only so much room before you hit a wall or a window.
“The hardest aspect of the entire run was the mental part more than physical, because it’s so hard to push yourself when you’re not making much ground.”
Sam isn’t alone in his home-running challenge; this Chinese marathon runner ran 318 miles in his living room during his quarantine, this quarantined runner in France spent six hours and 48 minutes running a full marathon on his balcony and this ultramarathon runner in lockdown in Northern Italy recreated a race in her back garden.
In the UK lockdown, runners are still allowed to go outside to exercise once a day, at a safe distance from others. A Government update on Friday 27 March encouraged runners to stay local to exercise and go for shorter runs nearer home.
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