Frenchman runs marathon on his own balcony

In the age of confinement, Frenchman Elisha Nochomovitz figured out a way to run a marathon anyway — back and forth on his balcony.

That’s right. He ran 42.2 kilometers straight, never leaving his 7-meter-long balcony.

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

Like athletes who run around their Wuhan apartments or cyclists who have found ways to train in their locked-down Abu Dhabi hotel rooms, Nochomovitz wanted to show others it’s possible to stay fit even 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 humor to dedramatize the confinement situation,” Nochomovitz said.

He didn’t exactly make record time. It took him around six hours and 48 minutes.

He got nauseous and worried the neighbors would complain about the pounding of his footsteps. But he did it.

Technically, the French authorities still allow people to go outside for individual sports like running, if they sign a special form explaining why.

Nochomovitz had been training for a marathon and said “I needed to assure myself I could still run 40 kilometers whatever the condition.”