In an effort to prove that been confined or quarantined indoors during the coronavirus pandemic is no excuse for neglecting daily exercise, a Spanish athlete recently spent ten hours running a 61-kilometer marathon in the comfort of his own home.

Like the vast majority of people in his country and much of Europe, Javier Castroverde, a 41-year-old triathlete from the Spanish region of Galicia, has been spending his days indoors, as part of a social distancing effort to slow down the spread of the novel coronavirus. However, instead of binging on Netflix, napping and going on social media, he has been busy keeping in shape. Despite being confined to a relatively small apartment, Castroverde was able to run the equivalent of a 61-km marathon in about 10 hours. He shared the data recorded by a smartphone app and dedicated his feat to the health professionals risking their lives to help others.

Photo: Javier Castroverde/Instagram

Castroverde, who once completed an Ultraman and five Ironmans in five consecutive days, among other endurance tests, admitted that his “challenge 061” wasn’t for everybody, but added that it should still serve as an example that you can train indoors, even in a 4-meter-long hallway. He hopes that his achievement will inspire some of those amateur athletes that went out to train last weekend, despite health experts warning against it.

“On a psychological level it is the hardest test I have ever done in my life,” Javier Castroverde said, adding that he was ready to call it quit at about the 54-kilometers mark, but the messages of support he received on social media gave him the strength to push on.

“People don’t have to do 60 kilometers, but if you have a little space you can do 5 or 10 kilometers,” the Spanish triathlete said.

I don’t know if Javier Castroverde was inspired by Pan Shancu, the Chinese marathon runner who jogged 50 km while confined to his apartment last month, but their stories are definitely very similar.