In times of the Corona pandemic, running events are cancelled almost daily. Virtual races cannot replace normal runs, but they do offer an interesting alternative that can enrich training in difficult times. When we heard about the first large-scale virtual runs, it was clear to us that we simply wanted to try them out.

The first opportunity came at the Scottish Virtual Road Relays. Together with two fellow runners from the Edinburgh University Hare and Hounds Running Club we started as a team of four. As the course was free to choose, we decided to run in the flat Meadows Park. Jonas needed 16:28 min for his five kilometres, I needed 17:35 min. In an impressively strong field we finished fourth among all mixed teams together with our fellow competitors Alex and Rosina.

A week later we heard about the virtual version of the Isle of Man Running Festival, which actually would have taken place on Easter weekend. Even though there were not as many virtual runners as usual, there were some fast runners at the start. Jonas was 12th overall in his ten kilometre tempo run (36:41 minutes) and I was first woman in 36:54 minutes.In the 5-kilometre run I took it easy and finished second 4 seconds behind the fist women in 18:25 minutes, Jonas in 14th place overall in 17:22 minutes. The final hill race I was able to win again. For this I ran around Edinburgh's local mountain Arthur's Seat.