Retired British javelin thrower James Campbell raised more than $30,000 for healthcare workers by running a marathon in his six-meter garden on Wednesday.
“10,000 retweets & I’ll run a marathon in my back garden,” he tweeted on Monday. It did, and he did, pacing back and forth for 5 hours, 5 minutes on a global live stream. A marathon is the equivalent of running the length of Campbell’s garden about 7,000 times.
“There’s not much positive news around at the moment,” Campbell, a 32-year-old Scottish javelin record holder, said on TODAY. “To take people’s mind off of it for a day and give them a bit of a laugh and a bit of entertainment, that’s job done.”
Campbell is one of many athletes turning to unusual measures to stay fit, raise money for charity and inspire others.
“It’s just been a very long week at home on my own,” he said. “As soon as you gain momentum, it was like, if I’m going to do something like this, then it’s got to be for a good cause.”
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Several Olympic hopefuls are finding ways to train at home and raise money for charity. @mollymhunter takes a closer look. pic.twitter.com/by20vb5Ixt
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 3, 2020