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Finn Aberdein

From the 24^th to the 26^th of April, five Orkney S2 runners competed against other Scottish athletes in a virtual fifteen minute road run to keep athletes active during lockdown.

On Saturday the 24^th April, Finn did the fifteen minute run. He tactically picked a route that wasn’t too much of an uphill run, but had to be careful as the rules were quite strict. Participants had to stay within one kilometre of where they started. This meant that you could not do a point to point run, and disqualified people who only ran downhill. Another rule was that if you were doing laps of something, the laps had to be at least one kilometre. This also prevented runners choosing to run round a football pitch or field. In the end, Finn managed to find a route that met all of the rules, was close to home, and was safe. He ran 3.65km in fifteen minutes.

Finn said: ‘I think I did quite well in the run. I think I chose a good time when it was not windy, and I chose a good route that met all the rules, and was not too much of an uphill.’

He explained that he used his Garmin watch to track how far we went and to check how long he had been running.

‘I think I pushed myself as far as I could and ran quite a good distance in the space of fifteen minutes.’

This is the first time an event like this has happened. Its invention was driven by the Coronavirus and the Government’s rules on self-isolation. Usually there are a few competitions throughout spring and summer in Kirkwall, where you pick which events you want to go in before the competition starts. With the virtual fifteen-minute run, you post your distance and it shows your average pace, elevation and the route you went.

The continuation of lockdown means that organisers are likely to continue running competitions virtually, but the races will be different lengths and the routes will change.