May 3rd 2020 was the date for me to run my final full marathon in my series of “Run the marathons of the places where I have lived” in Orange County California. However, the Corona crisis made the event impossible, so it was cancelled and so was our family vacation. We had planned to spend 2 weeks in California before running in the event.

I initially stopped training as well, but realised quickly that I needed some goal to keep me fit during the weeks/ months of working at home. Meanwhile the OCMarathon offered a virtual run option to complete the marathon anywhere in the world. So I picked up the training scheme again and tagged Sunday June 21 as marathon day.

The run started early in the morning at 7:00 to prevent the afternoon heat. From 24km onward I had support from friends and family on foot and bike. At 31km there were multiple pacers that helped me get to the full 42km. Really great support during the tough last kilometers. Finally finished in 3 hours and 53 minutes. Not the fastest time, but certainly the best balanced full marathon I have ever run. I ran at a constant HR of 153 in Z3 so I was tired but not wasted at the end.