THE coronavirus pandemic has seen the cancellation of most sporting events this year leading to most athletes thinking outside the box and coming up with ways of competing. One of those athletes, Mount Edgecombe resident, Jo Maingard, recently ran the London Marathon, which was due to take place on 26 April, in her back yard to raise funds for Save the Rhino International.
Earlier this year, the 25-year-old had set out a plan to run eight marathons in eight different countries in three months for charity.
While all the marathons were either postponed or cancelled, Maingard felt she could still give back by being unconventional in these unprecedented times.
Through her efforts she was able to raise more than R18 000 for the rhino charity and live streamed sections of her run on Instagram. In all she covered more than 380 laps of her garden in order to cover the 42 kilometres in just under five hours.
Speaking on her extraordinary feat, Maingard said being mentally tough, was extremely important.
“Running a normal marathon in itself is a challenge both physically and emotionally. What I can say is that the mental preparation was crucial for me, knowing I’m going to have to do over 380 laps of my garden – so that really helped get my mind right. Because I was running for the rhino charity I felt like I had a purpose and that kept me fueled for the entire run. Knowing you doing something bigger than yourself is big enough motivation for me. I also went live on Instagram and I had friends and family cheering me on during the run. My neighbour’s in Mount Edgecombe heard I was doing this and came out onto their verge to cheer me on, that was really special.
“They also had flowers for me at the end. I was very emotionally with two kilometres to go and I was live for these two kilometres, but those watching me just kept giving me words of encouragement and it really kept me going. I also wanted to prove to others out there how strong we as humans can be so I felt like showing them my emotions and opening my heart to how hard this was would show them that while it’s not easy to run a marathon you can do anything so that also kept me going. Another special part of this run was having my aunt in the UK run the last 21 kilometres with me,” she said.
Her dream of running eight marathons in eight cities will now be moved to next year.
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