London – His garden is just over six meters long. That didn’t stop James Campbell from running a marathon right there.
With this unusual campaign, the British javelin thrower collected donations for the British health service NHS on his 32nd birthday. It raised over £ 20,000 to fight COVID-19.
Campbell, who is isolated at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, announced on March 30th to Twitter that he would be running a marathon in his little garden if his post was shared 10,000 times online. On April 1, the Scotsman kept his promise. His post had had more than 23,000 retweets by then.
Campbell walked back and forth on his terrace and the small lawn for about five hours, while neighbors and spectators cheered him on in the live stream. Among others, former English soccer world champion Sir Geoff Hurst watched online.
“The response has knocked me out and I can’t thank you enough,” Campbell later wrote on Twitter. «I can’t believe how much money was raised. (…) Please continue to donate to the NHS. » Campbell’s garden marathon can also be viewed afterward. The 32-year-old published the stream on Youtube.
