Israeli marathon runner Gazcho Fanta decided to continue his training regime while under a government-enforced lockdown related to the coronavirus by running a 26-mile race in his living room, Ynet reported on Wednesday.
Fanta, who holds the Israeli record for the 50-kilometer (31-mile) run, completed the marathon while running from one side of his living room to the other. He finished in 3:50:14 hours with some 5,349 laps around the room at an average pace of 5:27 minutes per kilometer.
He was inspired to take upon the challenge after seeing a video online of a man who ran a marathon on his porch.
“It was quite a challenge,” said Fanta after his run. “I wanted to show people that even if you can’t run outside, you can still do it at home … it’s all in your head.”
“The first 20 kilometers were crazy-hard, but I know I had to do it, and after a while got used to the furniture and the walls. What helped was that I had music playing in the background. I was starting to hallucinate, but I knew I had a goal. There were moments I told myself, ‘Why am I doing this?’ ”
Nevertheless, the athlete acknowledged not being satisfied with his completion time.
“At the marathon in Berlin, I crossed the finish line after 2:20:16 hours,” he said. “If the lockdown continues, I’m going to need to do this again to improve my time.”
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.