Woman Runs 1000s Of Laps In Her Backyard To Raise Money For Relief Efforts.

While many people are spending their time in quarantine cozying up on the couch with Netflix or a good book, avid runners like Anna Harding are strapping on their shoes for a good cause.

Anna is a content creator for The Running Channel and is currently isolating with her mom and stepdad in a suburb of London, England. With so many events canceled due to the novel coronavirus, she decided to challenge herself in a unique way!

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“So the backyard marathon kind of sprung from the fact that with the current global pandemic going on, running – all the races are off,” she said. “Going out and running for maybe like four hours hard … is probably not the most sensible thing to do right now, but I decided that, ‘Hey, I’ll just do it in my back garden instead.'”

With a little help from her relatives, Anna set out to complete the full 26.2 miles by running laps across their tiny garden. She recorded every moment of her “road race” and asked viewers to make a donation to the UN’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

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Throughout every moment, she thought of the heroes on the front lines.

“The first hour is done, and do you know, all I’m thinking about is the why behind this,” she said during the race. “I’m thinking about all of the key workers, health workers, people who are delivery drivers, people working grocery stores, teachers, just everyone who is still keeping this country together.”

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Since Anna had to slow down to turn around every 32 feet or so, her time was considerably slower than usual. Instead of taking about four hours, her marathon went on for over six hours straight!

As she was completing the last lap, her loved ones held up a strip of toilet paper so she had a proper finish line to cross. They even gave her a tinfoil medal to commemorate the impressive accomplishment!

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While Anna said running in circles for six hours was “horrible,” she would do it all over again to help out!

Watch the video below to see this athlete in action, and don’t forget to share her victory. For more stories of joy and hope, check out the Coronavirus Good News Dashboard.

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