During the social distancing period, some are managing to fit in runs from 45 minutes right up to full marathons without leaving the home
The rooftop marathon of Dat Nguyen was widely reported (see our article on his epic run here), but the night before Dat’s 42km, another Vietnam Trail Series runner also knocked out 30km at home.
On Friday 3rd April, Carly Balmforth ran 30km on her own rooftop. The run took her around six hours.
“My roof terrace isn’t very big – a full lap isn’t even 0.1km so I don’t even want to think how many times I ran around that! However, I’m very happy and proud that I completed it”, Carly said.
Like Dat, the idea of running came to Carly when social distancing in Hanoi came into effect on April 1st and residents were told to go out only for essential needs that did not include runs.
“I have recently been recovering from an ongoing injury – plantar fasciitis – which has plagued me for around three years. I have finally started to run much stronger, quicker and almost pain free, thanks to my wonderful physio Flavia Breu, who is a regular in the Vietnam Trail Series,” she explains.
Carly is no stranger to long runs having completed a 122km race and also the 70k distance at Vietnam Trail Marathon 2020. This meant the 30km was relatively easy physically, but the mental challenge was very real.
“My first strong race after recovering from my injury was VTM in Moc Chau in January, which I absolutely loved. To prepare for the postponed trails, I decided that I would run 30km on my rooftop. Not only did this mean that I would be adhering to social distancing rules but I would also have the opportunity to train both my body and my mind”, she added.
At the time of writing, Vietnam’s social distancing policy has seen the nation limit covid-19 cases to below 300.
“I think that Vietnam has done a fantastic job of coping with the issues surrounding Covid19 and I am optimistic that I will be back on the trails very soon!”, Carly said.
Topas staff have also been running at home, with COO Quan running up to 45 minutes inside his apartment with his son, Euro.
“Running at home with Euro is always fun. I planned to run 30’… he made it longer :)”, he said.