VIDEO: British man runs backyard marathon during lockdown
Published in Weird News
(UPI) A British runner brought sports and social distancing together when he ran an entire marathon in his back yard to raise money for the National Health Service.
James Campbell, 32, said he was feeling stir crazy at his Cheltenham, England, home after about a week of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, so he took to Twitter to see if there would be interest in his running a marathon in his small garden.
"I was tidying some stuff and thought 'what's the most stupid idea I can come up with in isolation?' I took one look at my garden and thought that I'll run a marathon in that," Campbell told SportBible.
Campbell's tweet went viral, receiving attention from several pro athletes and celebrities.
The runner completed his task Wednesday, two days after his initial tweet. He estimated it took him about 7,000 laps in his garden to reach the 26.2-mile distance of a full marathon.
Champbell live-streamed his entire run, which raised money for Britain's National Health Service to battle the coronavirus.
He said Wednesday that his fundraising total had topped $25,000.
Copyright 2020 by United Press International
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