As part of the Erasmus+ project “Sport Possibilities in Restriction Periods”, we are starting a series of true stories in which athletes – both professionals and representatives of grassroots sports, as well as pupils of sports schools and sports clubs – will share their experiences of how they played sports and trained during restrictions during, whether and how they managed to find motivation in conditions that were not at all favorable for maintaining the sporting spirit

Of course, we hope that such conditions will not happen again, but if they do – then we will have already armed ourselves with knowledge, experience, methods, techniques and applications so that we can continue to do sports with the same quality and with the same motivation during the time of restrictions.

Let`s start!

Valters Everts, participated in the remote marathon

On November 18, 2021, in honor of Latvia’s birthday, I participated in the remote marathon “Freedom Run” organized by the “Ghetto Games” organization, which took place with the motto “Let’s run together, but each separately!”. In order for as many participants as possible to take part in it, the available distances were different – 3 km, 5 km, 7 km, 10 km, 15 km, 21 km and 42 km, and everyone could choose the one that suited their abilities.

When doing the distance, you had to use a sports watch, which is able to count the distance run much more accurately than smartphone applications. You could run your chosen kilometers and record the result throughout the day. After the distance, the file had to be uploaded to the website of the organizers and then you could see your won place. If you had registered, for example, for a distance of 10 km, but while running you realized that you had enough strength to complete a longer section, then when you loaded the file of the distance you ran on the website, there was no need to re-register for a longer distance, it was done automatically after loading the file into the system. I had registered for the 10 km distance. I thought of running according to my feelings and up to 21 km, but at the 7th km I felt that my strength was over, and I “suffered” the remaining 3 km with clenched teeth.

Not only participants in Latvia, but also Latvians living abroad took part in the remote marathon. A total of 3,000 km were run in the 2020 “Freedom Run”, while in 2021 – 5,905 km, so almost 2 times more. This shows that people found this type of marathon attractive, and both experienced runners and those who needed to overcome their insecurities and discover courage, daring and awareness – I can do it – were ready to participate. Speed was not the main thing this time, it was more important to get up from the sofa and run at least at a very slow pace. Overcoming laziness and self-motivation could be the best gift for yourself during the National holiday.

As each participant ran separately, there was a little lack of competitive spirit and the incentive to run faster, but participating in the marathon of Latvia`s Birthday gave me a celebratory feeling of being part of something big and united.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.