Slothlete

I think it's fair to say that unless you're running a supermarket, selling masks or an Andrex puppy, 2020 has been a little - excuse my French - merde. For a while we couldn't go out, after that we couldn't go far and throughout it all there have been many arguments about what is legal, what is potentially a bad idea and who you can meet up with, at what point, and with how many others. Two things that have not suffered, at least in my experience, are running and virtual events. The former has been considered a good way to improve mental health during lockdown and has meant that we can all get out in a pair of expensive shoes and think about how little there is to do at home. 

Virtual events, meanwhile, have become a necessity for some organisers who wouldn't otherwise have any income from participants. They are often considered a little flat at best, although I've always needed something to aim for and virtual events have often kept me running when nothing else was on the horizon. I'm fresh off completing Leeds Triathlon's slightly altered event, offering medals for the completion of two events - a run and a ride. I achieved a 15km run on Monday and a 40km ride on Tuesday, both of which are government approved activities. Those who know me will know I'm not quick - both events totalled more then three and a half hours - yet I'm still managing to get out there and stay active instead of defaulting to my usual biscuits and crisps. I'm still eating biscuits and crisps, just slightly less of each.

One event that keeps popping up in my Facebook timeline is a virtual ultra marathon. Another issue regular runners have with virtuals is that they're often spaced over the course of a longer time, so a virtual marathon can often be achieved in a month. This means there are people out there with marathon medals who have not completed it on a single day, and this is true for the Ultra Race Romania, which is normally a six day slog across the country covering 250km. The virtual event allows participants to do the same in 25 days, just over 10km a day, and it is exactly this rule that means I have signed up. I agree that it's not the same as an ultra marathon, although I know 25 days of running 10km straight will be a big challenge for me. Also, as I'm running in my local area, I don't have to spend thousands of pounds on equipment, much of which is mandatory.

Currently I'm training for a cancelled Newport marathon, who have offered a medal to anyone who can achieve the distance in a single day for the same price as a place on their normal event. This means that they can keep going next year and, without our funds, it is likely they couldn't put on their usual event. I figured that a good way to train would be to beat my legs to death up to a month before, after which I will reduce my running and incorporate rest days as I have in the past.

Stay tuned for detailed analysis of me running the same 10km route over and over again...