Although they are banned from meeting in person, a group of runners in Three Rivers still managed to run a marathon – virtually.
Clare Casselton saw the idea on her Triathlon Facebook page.
She explained: “I miss running socially so when I saw the idea of a virtual marathon relay, I thought it would be a great way to do something together, apart.
In a virtual marathon relay the 26.2 mile distance is shared between the runners and each one sets off on their own route when the previous runner finishes their distance, passing the virtual baton via Whatsapp or similar.
“Everyone posted videos – some limbering up in the “starting pen”, some mid-run with their neighbours out cheering and of course the all-important sprint through the finish line and being offered a foil blanket by a volunteer (husband).
“It was a wonderful way to connect with some running friends during the lockdown and very enjoyable way to spend the morning. With a very respectable team time of 3 hours 53 minutes we were all awarded a virtual finishers medal.”
Dr. Kevin Barrett started at 7am and then messaged Cllr. Chris Lloyd for leg 2. The organiser Claire did Leg 3. Leg 4 was done by Rachel Wray; Dan Newman did Leg 5. They were the only 2 to do the same route. Leg 6 was done by John Jowers who had run the 2004 London Marathon. John ran the same loop twice. Leg 7 was done by Terri McMahon who had only finished nightshift at 8am at Northwick Park Hospital. The final leg was completed by Sarah Leveridge wearing the T Shirt in which she ran the 2018 London Marathon for Oxfam.
On May 8, they will either do another virtual marathon or they might consider doing an ultramarathon (20 team members each doing 5km).
Watford Mencap had the Watford 10K planned that day. If you want to sponsor them for Watford Mencap uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/GreenTeam1
They are also doing a Green Team Bingo challenge. There are 28 different challenges you can build into a run. If you want to a copy of the challenges contact Rachel Wray raewray@yahoo.co.uk or Chris Lloyd on clloyd4517@aol.com
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