Nguyễn Đạt runs on his building's rooftop in Đống Đa District, Hà Nội. It took him more than 6hr 22min to complete the 'race'. Photo courtesy of Nguyễn Đạt

HÀ NỘI — Nguyễn Đạt is no stranger to marathons, but the one he just completed was something special.

With social distancing to beat the COVID-19 pandemic in full effect, Đạt ran the 26.2 miles on the roof of a building in Hà Nội's Đống Đa District in 6hr 22.11min.

Đạt is one of the thousands of runners missing out on their fix due to the pandemic.

Speaking with tuoitre.vn Đạt said: “I am a regular participant of super marathons of 100km, so the rooftop marathon was not very tough. The obstacle here was the short distance of the roof which made me feel tired and stuffy.

“Moreover, few people walk on this roof so there is a lot of moss here. It was really slippery track and I couldn't run fast,” said Đạt.

He used a small speaker to play an audiobook during the run to fight the boredom of running in circles for more than 6 hours.

At about the same time, Dương Nguyễn, an amateur runner, also finished a marathon, this time in front of his house in Hà Đông District.

Starting from 6am, Dương completed his race in about six hours including a 30-minute rest.

“It was an interesting experience but really hard for me. I felt dizzy in the first 5km because of the short distance there. I had to rest three times to massage my feet which hurt a lot,” said Dương.

(From left to right) Phan Văn Hóa, Trần Bảo Khanh, Lê Đình Tới and Tạ Trung Lưu run 21km on Sunday's virtual V.Race to encourage people to 'Stay at Home' to avoid coronavirus. Photos webthethao.vn

In addition, four runners in three different regions joined a 21km running challenge at 7am Sunday.

In Hà Nội, Lê Đình Tới ran on the top of the Green Stars building in Cầu Giấy District, finishing in 2:22.22.

In Huế, Phan Văn Hóa completed 4,000 laps in his 30sq.m orchid garden for the half-marathon race. Not far from him, Tạ Trung Lưu ran in a house’s front yard for about two hours in Phú Yên Province.

The only woman of the group, Trần Bảo Khanh spent more than two hours running in a corridor of a building in HCM City.

These four runners are among thousands of participants of a virtual race V.Race which calls people to ‘Stay at Home’ and show their ‘I Am Safe’ moments during the coronavirus time, organised by online newspaper VnExpress. VNS