Novel way to pass time during lockdown

-

Man runs marathon on 7-metre balcony during French lockdown 

Elisha Nochomovitz wanted to pay tribute to medics and show it’s possible to stay fit at home

In the age of Covid-19 confinement, Elisha Nochomovitz has figured out a way to keep occupied by running a marathon on his balcony.

Nochomovitz ran 42.2km (26.2 miles) back and forth, never leaving his 7 metre-long (23 feet) balcony.

He saw it as a physical and mental challenge, and also shared images of the feat online as a way to extend his support to medical personnel who were doing an “exceptional job”, he told Associated Press from his apartment in Balma, a suburb of the southern French city of Toulouse.

Like athletes who ran around their Wuhan apartments or cyclists who found ways to train in their locked-down Abu Dhabi hotel rooms, Nochomovitz wanted to show that it’s possible to stay fit as virus containment measures tighten around the world.

He also wanted to lighten the mood. “It was about launching a bit of a crazy challenge and bringing a bit of humour, to de-dramatise the confinement situation,” he said.

 He didn’t exactly make record time. It took him six hours and 48 minutes. He got nauseous and worried the neighbours would complain about the pounding of his footsteps. But he did it. 

Technically, the French authorities are still allowing people to go outside for exercise such as running, if they fill out and sign a form explaining their reasons for leaving their homes.

The number of joggers on French streets has multiplied in recent days, amid exceptionally balmy weather. And that has authorities worried that too many people are still out on the streets, threatening efforts to contain the virus.

“If everyone thinks the same way and does the same thing, we will all find ourselves outside and that won’t help anything, and the message that we need to stay confined at home will have had no impact,” said Nochomovitz.

He said he had been training for a marathon, adding: “I needed to assure myself that I could still run 40km.”

He lost track of how many laps he did, but his pedometer kept track while his mind wandered.

“I thought about many things, what’s going to happen, when I see that the world has stopped, sports, economy, finance,” he said. “We learned in history about wars between nations, men and weapons, but this is something that is beyond us.”

 He especially thought about medics, “the real everyday heroes.”

He had crucial support in his challenge. “I had my girlfriend here who was giving me drinks and M&Ms.” Outside, some onlookers stared in confusion.

And his neighbours? “They were very understanding.”



My running tweets:


































Previous Running Posts:

Slowest Marathon Runners Mocked (& Kahoot)

Run, run, run!

Comments

Sir Joseph said…
Hi Graham,

Everyone is lockdown. Elisha does sport. Medical personnel do an exceptional job. A runner pays tribute to medical personnel. There is a marathon on 7 metre balcony. A girlfriend helps her boyfriend. Neighbours are understanding. It´s an impressive image. I´m so proud of the human species.

I think Elisha is harder than you. He ran 42.2 km for six hours. I don´t remember how long you take to run 40 kilometres. I hope that you did exercise in your gym with your favourite neighbour, who lives in the courtyard. It seems that you won´t do another marathon, as before, up to one year at least. What disaster. I´m sorry. You can dream about Berlin, France or Madrid, when you was an important runner.

I don´t know how Elisha didn´t go crasy running on 7 metre balcony. He said that he lost track of how many laps he did, but it´s normal, in my instance, I would had lost my liver at least after five minutes.

He said that we learned about wars between nations, men and weapons, but this is something that is beyond us. In my opinion, this is not a war, but a pandemic like other times that human being had suffered throughout history. In spite of awful damages we have not learned. It´s a big surprise for me that have died more sixty thousand people in the United States, when they told that they were trained to a biological war. The United States lets me down. Everyone are the same.

See you.
Saturday, 02 May, 2020
Graham said…
Evening José,

I am tired of reading these stories now. Everyone wants to have their moment of fame.

What do you mean he is a "harder" runner? Stronger? I ran my first marathon in 3h53mins. It's true that his marathon would have been monontonous but he didn't have any steep slopes to run up.

Everyone is in lockdown. Elisha does sport. Medical personnel do an exceptional job. A runner pays tribute to medical personnel. There is a marathon on a 7 metre balcony. A girlfriend helps her boyfriend. Neighbours are understanding. It´s an impressive image. I´m so proud of the human species.

I think Elisha is harder (??) than you. He ran 42.2 km for six hours. I don´t remember how long you took to run 40 kilometres. I hope that you did exercise in your gym with your favourite neighbour, who lives in the courtyard. It seems that you won´t do another marathon, as before, for another year at least. What a disaster1 I´m sorry. You can dream about Berlin, France or Madrid, when you are an important runner.

I don´t know how Elisha didn´t go crasy running on a 7 metre balcony. He said that he lost track of how many laps he did, but it´s normal, in my case, I would have lost my liver after just five minutes.

He said that we learned about wars between nations, men and weapons, but this is something that is beyond us. In my opinion, this is not a war, but a pandemic like other times that human beings have suffered throughout history. In spite of awful suffering, we still have not learned. It´s a big surprise for me that more than sixty thousand people have died in the United States, when they said that they were trained for a biological war. The United States has let me down. Everyone is the same.
Monday, 04 May, 2020
Barbara said…
Related with this post I remember Orson Welles´s novel, “1985”. I don’t remember to much details about the novel. When the principal role were incarcerated in a small room or jail, He start to do exercise to maintain the flexibility of his body. When I read it, It sound strange for me, even excessive, just for a couple of days, or a week without movement, It doesn’t seem too much for me, but now I can understand how painfull can be the back without movement.
About the post, from my point of view, this is just the evidence about how your mind can change a situation, when you are in a lockdown in your home, usually you´ll think you can´t do exercise, but other person can run a marathon in his balcony, it´s seems just perspective about the things, and how you can figurate out. I like seeing how the people find different ways to resolve a problem, or different way to do things, just the way to do exercise, the plot of a story, a different way of cooking, It´s fascinating for me.
Monday, 12 April, 2021
Graham said…
Evening Barbara,

I used to enjoy long-distance running but I doubt I would be able to run the 42km of a marathon within a confined space. I could never run repetitively around a track for long. I preferred to zigzag through Retiro rather than run around its edge. What I liked most about running was taking in all the sights and views of the routes I would take.


This post reminds me of Orson Welles´s “1985” though I don’t remember too many details about the novel. When the main character was incarcerated in a small room or jail, he started to do exercise to maintain the flexibility of his body. When I read it, it sounded strange to me, even excessive. In my opinion, just a couple of days or a week without movement didn't seem too much. However, I can now understand how painful your back can get without movement.

As for the the post, from my point of view, this is just the evidence of how your mind can change a situation. When you are in lockdown at home, you probably think you can´t do exercise, whereas someone else can run a marathon on their balcony. It depends on your perspective on things and how you can figure things out. I like seeing how people find different ways to resolve a problem, or different ways to do things, such asthe way to do exercise, the plot of a story, a different way of cooking and so on. I find it fascinating.
Tuesday, 13 April, 2021
Graham said…
Ooops! The book you are referring to is called 1984. haha
Tuesday, 13 April, 2021
María Rossignoli Montero said…
Hi Graham!

After reading this post I'm still figuring out how a man can run a marathon in a balcony, it looks like a torture for the neighbours.
But I'm happy to read that they were suportive with him.
I reckon how important is to keep on movement in order to not get crazy, specially during lockdown times.
Those odd months seem like happened a long time ago, yet I still remember how I experiened them and what did I do/all that I did.
The first weeks I was rather happy to have more spare time that I've ever had in my life to do everything I wanted. I got hooked to the computer game "The Sims", read a good amount of books and did some puzzles. I even played some sports by dancing in the "Just Dance" the wii game.
But after the first month passed, I started feeling really bored and overwhelmed with my spare time.
Luckily, after two months we were allowed to have a 1 hour walk inside the neighbour. That hour was the nicest thing of the day, but I remember having laces the first days because I'd lost the habit of walking.
Tuesday, 26 December, 2023
Graham said…
Evening Maria,

I wonder how many times he ran back and forth. If he took nearly seven hours, he must have walked much of it.


After reading this post, I'm still figuring out how a man can run a marathon on a balcony, it must have been torture for the neighbours.
But I'm happy to read that they were supportive of him.

I perfectly understand how important it was to keep on moving so as not to go crazy, especially during lockdown times.

Those odd months seem a long time ago now yet I still remember how I experienced them and what / all that I did.
For the first weeks I was rather happy to have more spare time that I've ever had in my life to do everything I wanted. I got hooked on the computer game "The Sims", read a fair amount of books and did some puzzles. I even did some exercise by dancing the wii game "Just Dance".

But after the first month had passed, I started feeling really bored and overwhelmed for having so much spare time.

Luckily, after two months we were allowed to have a 1 hour walk around the neighbourhood. That hour was the nicest thing of the day, but I remember getting a stitch / getting out of breath the first few days because I'd lost the habit of walking.
Wednesday, 27 December, 2023
Post a Comment