Runners find indoor comfort in 鈥榟ome marathons鈥
Print Edition
A HANGZHOU runner named Pan Shancu ran 6,450 circles around two beds in five hours at home; a Xi’an runner, Cheng Dadu, continuously ran 100 kilometers in his living room; a mother Tan Xue, finished a half marathon at home and posted on social media her race bib, drawn by her son.
Although many people in China cannot go outside due to the novel coronavirus epidemic, “home marathons” have become a new option for many runners during these trying times.
“I have not stopped my training since the Spring Festival,” said 36-year-old runner named Wang Yang from Changchun in Jilin Province.
As a marathon fan with four years of running experience, he successfully got a ticket to the Chongqing Marathon last December.
Aiming to break his personal record, he ran 251km this January. His training plans were disrupted by the novel coronavirus outbreak, but he chose to train indoors, instead.
“I run on the treadmill and do slow endurance runs and variable speed runs on odd-numbered dates; and do power exercise such as squats, deadlifts and planks on even-numbered dates,” said Wang.
Although he feels extremely depressed since he cannot run outside, he says that health and safety are the first principles of running.
Marathon has gained popularity in China in recent years, with over 1,000 races being held in the country each year.
Training is indispensable for runners now though February is a slack season for marathon contests.
But the peak season starts in March and lasts for 10 consecutive months.
Many contests that were scheduled in the first half of 2020 are now cancelled or postponed, meaning runners have to get creative in order to train.
At 7pm every night, the 46-year-old Jin Lili, leader of the “Changchun Running Lovers Team,” holds a WeChat video conversation with her teammates.
They supervise each other on their “home marathon” training progress after asking about each other’s health situation.
“Our training during the first two months this year will fail to reach the level in the past years, but we have to be responsible for ourselves and those beside us. So we are determined not to run outside,” she said.
“That is why our team organized some home exercises, including running in place and core strength training.”
After the Hangzhou runner Pan posted his 5-hour record by circling his 8-meter home marathon track in Zhejiang Province, the Xi’an runner Cheng rapidly “responded” with a new record of 8 hours and 6 minutes in Shaanxi Province.
Many runners read and liked the post online.
A Changchun runner named Yang Haoyue said that the joy of “home marathon” is not close to that of road running, but added that it is only a temporary blip.
“When the spring blossoms come, we will run freely outside again. If the Changchun Marathon in May were to be held as scheduled, it will be my ‘come-back run’.”
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