France: Man runs marathon on 7-meter-long balcony during lockdown

With half the world under complete lockdown, a man in France shocked his countrymen and the rest of the globe by running nearly 43 kilometres in his 7-metre-long balcony. According to reports, Elisha Nochomovitz ran a marathon in his apartment's balcony in Balma, a suburb of the southern French city of Toulouse. French media reported Elisha Nochomovitz as saying that he saw it as a mental and physical challenge and wanted to show the world that staying fit amid lockdown is actually possible.

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According to reports, it took Nochomovitz six hours and 48 minutes to complete the run. Nochomovitz told the press that initially he was worried about the pounding footsteps as he thought his neighbours would complain, but it turned out they were very supportive. Nochomovitz said that he lost track of how many laps he did, but his pedometer kept track.

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Elisha Nochomovitz first informed about his run on Facebook where he wrote, "FINISHER marathon of my balcony." Nochomovitz further wrote that his job was to stay at home and that's what he did and he also urged people to think of all the caregivers who are on the frontline risking their lives. Nochomovitz said that if he would have wanted he could have gone out in the streets to run as technically it is allowed for people in France to go outside for 'individual sports' like running, if they sign a special form explaining why.

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Coronavirus outbreak

COVID-19 has claimed more than 31,900 lives across the world and has infected more than 6,80,000 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China was the most affected country until last week before Italy and Spain surpassed it to record the most number of deaths anywhere in the world due to COVID-19. The virus is believed to have originated from a seafood market in China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally. 

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