While most people around the UAE were tucked up in bed on Saturday night, a Dubai resident was pounding the floor of his JBR apartment competing in the Quarantine Backyard Ultra.
Rinat Mustafin was one of more than 2,400 people across 60 countries taking part in the virtual race conducted over the app Zoom, distant in geography but united online from their living rooms, gardens and streets around the world.
The Russian national, who moved to the Emirates in 2009, was forced to run all of his miles within the 23rd floor of his apartment amid a nationwide lockdown due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
Having started at 5pm on Saturday, Mustafin covered 134 kilometres in 20 hours before tapping out at 1pm on Sunday afternoon. The race winner, Michael Wardian of Virginia, meanwhile, ran 63 laps in 442.4km in 63 hours.
“I wanted to reach 24 hours but I was happy overall. I decided to step back at 20 hours because I started to feel the instability in some joints. It’s better I save them now and run later, rather than risk more if I continue,” Mustafin told Sport360.
“I was trying to make it as attractive and engaging as possible. I just started the first loop to see how it was. I started the second, third. Then I reached marathon distance. It still felt ok there. I had my four boys and they didn’t sleep all night because of the race. They made the process so much easier. The most challenging process was the joints.”
The rules for the run were simple. Runners had to obey social distancing guidelines and run each lap of 6.7km alone before uploading their results to the fitness app Strava.
Instead of running together on a course, each runner mapped out their own loop, whether it was around their apartment, or in their neighborhood, garden or treadmill.
Runners had an hour to cover the 6.7km distance. If they finished before the hour is up, they could eat, sleep or use the restroom. However, they had to be at the starting line when the 60 minutes was up so they could start the next loop. Hundreds of kilometres and a lot of pain later, the last competitor still running wins.
“The living room was an oval shape, a 25 metre route, which wasn’t bad, but that was a little boring, especially spending all the time in one room. The living room and hallway was 50 metres, longer course and needed to do less loops,” said Mustafin, who is Managing Partner of I Love Supersport.
“At night, when the neighbours were sleeping, I decided to do a 100 metre loop which was an eight shape in the hallway with hall doors open. The bad thing was the concrete in the hallway so I started to feel my hips and pelvis.
“I continued to do loops on the wooden surface after and that was better for the legs.”
The Moscow native may have been restricted to his apartment and the wider corridor area of the 23rd floor, but he wasn’t the only competitor to encounter issues during the race.
In the minus nine degree temperatures of Alberta, Canada, an athlete had to run part of the race from a closed coffee shop to avoid frostbite. An athlete from Tennessee, meanwhile, had to pause his treadmill to remove a five-foot snake from his garden.
Still, like any minor setback, it is important to turn it into an opportunity for growth. And as people are restricted to their homes at present, there is a thirst to stay competitive with online races to replace the isolation-averse contests on public streets.
The unique Quarantine Backyard Ultra was intended to fill a void for distance runners who saw their race calendars wiped clean by the spread of the coronavirus.
Most athletes would have been targeting different races at this stage of the year and, in the space of a few weeks, the pandemic has derailed goals, fitness routines and general motivation for some. Life must keep moving though.
“I was lost a bit when this all started a few weeks ago. I was on track to hit the goal, training for a half ironman. Suddenly it disappeared. There was uncertainty and I didn’t know what to do with everything closed. I was literally shocked and lost,” said Mustafin.
“In the morning, I woke up and saw an invitation for a 10km plan every day. I said I was in, let’s see how it goes. I lost those rails of motivation and I didn’t know how to find the new rails. I found a new inspiration and new reality.
“People have lost big goals, but in this condition of uncertainty, we need to leave today with a big question of how we can be a better version of ourselves in comparison to yesterday.”
In the midst of this global crisis, there are plenty of people taking advantage of the current restrictions of staying at home and keeping safe by exercising in their respective apartments.
Whether it’s online races, challenges set by friends on Whatsapp groups, or various home workout programmes, the key is getting a daily dose of exercise to maintain energy levels and de-stress.
It’s difficult to know when normal life will resume so, for now, we need to find alternatives to keep our bodies and minds physically and mentally fit.
“One of the girls organised a game in our Whatsapp group to inspire people. On the fifth day, a lady ran a full marathon around a carpet of 2.3 metres by 1.3 metres. She must have done eight steps around a carpet and ended up going on to run a marathon. It was very inspirational,” he said.
“It’s hard to compare with the great outdoors, but we need to continue because life is moving. We need to find a way to move. We need to use every step. We have a lot of free time at home now so we need something to do to pass the time. I believe after lockdown will be over, people will like the idea of training online because you save a lot of time commuting.”
