5 Great Reasons to Run 1,000 Times around Your Garden during Lock-down

My husband and I love to run. Running is the time that I dance, think and sing… It’s my favorite “me time.” We’ve managed to keep on running through the coronavirus crisis by converting our little garden into a running track! “Running track” is perhaps too grand a term for our 22 meter circuit, but it’s this circuit that enables us to run. Just a few weeks ago our family ran over 1,000 laps, completing a half-marathon together, to raise money for the Myisrael Emergency Coronavirus Appeal. 

Running together was a fantastic experience. Here are five positive outcomes that came out from our half-marathon: Five is the number of children we have, all of whom took their turn to run so that we could reach the “finish line.”

1. Thirty families in need received food packages before the Pesach holiday!

Our half-marathon raised 15,000 shekels. Each food package costs 500 shekels to send. Sixty-six people donated to our campaign, smaller and larger donations from friends and family from all over the world. That’s amazing team work and an incredible result from running around the garden! 

2. Learning the value of giving

Our children learned the value of giving and became aware that they had the ability to make a difference to somebody else. They told their friends about what we were doing and were really committed to helping us to fundraise, so much so that two of our daughters gave nearly all their pocket money to the campaign.

3. Getting active

In order to run the half-marathon, our children had to train with us! For almost a week we had them running around the garden! They barely complained and even our teenager, not known for her love of sport, committed to training, explaining her motivation was to help raise money for people in need. Since the half-marathon I can honestly say we have had close to zero success in getting them up and running, but for that week it was great!

4. Connecting to family and friends

In the absence of any supporters on the ground, apart from ourselves, we decided to stream our run on Facebook Live. We didn’t expect many people to tune in, watching someone run around the garden is a little like watching washing going around a washing machine, but we were happily surprised that friends and family from down the street and across the other side of the globe watched and cheered us on! All of a sudden we were shouting out to grandparents, cousins and friends in Modiin, Leeds, London, San Francisco and a number of other places too! During our run we felt surrounded by love and encouraged by all the comments and support! This was an amazing feeling!

5. Making memories

The current coronavirus crisis is certainly a period that we all want to put behind us. It’s an existence that just a few months ago no one could possibly have imagined. Like everyone else, we have muddled through, some days being better than others. Certainly the half-marathon was a different experience that brought us all together in a really positive way. My daughter is keeping a diary during the “Corona Crisis.” She’s filled it with pictures from the half-marathon.

One day, I hope we will run a half-marathon again, but with the rest of the world joining us in real time.