This ultra-marathoner was supposed to run Boston. Instead, he ran a marathon on his New York rooftop.
"I really wanted to emphasize running the Boston Marathon, but really the message was more, I want to stay at home."
As the coronavirus pandemic continued to develop earlier this year, Stephen England had a feeling that he would not be running the Boston Marathon on Patriots’ Day.
When the news was confirmed and the race was officially postponed to Sept. 14, England knew one thing for sure – he would still be running the distance on Marathon Monday. Originally, the New York City resident planned to run laps around Central Park, where he usually trains. But inspired by stories of a backyard marathon in England, a man completing a 50K in his apartment in China, and a balcony marathon in France, England decided to heed New York orders and stay home.
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He completed his marathon on Monday, running 1,098 laps around the rooftop of his South Harlem apartment building to finish in 5 hours, 29 minutes, 37 seconds.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_OR-3Vn7oA/
“I thought, I’m very fortunate to live in a quiet, nice building in South Harlem with a common rooftop space, which is not gigantic, but it’s flat, and no one’s really up there,” England said. “I really wanted to emphasize running the Boston Marathon, but really the message was more, I want to stay at home and show everyone that you can stay at home, right within a confined space, and run a virtual Boston Marathon.”
England, 40, wore blue and yellow, and had a customized race bib designed by a friend. His personal aid station was fully stocked with water, snacks, and his finisher’s medal from last year’s race. He streamed the run live on Facebook, engaging with friends, family, and strangers in the comments as he shared his progress.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_P3QwLnSQi/
“It was very monotonous, of course,” he said. “But there was something unique and fun about doing that course. It’s extraordinarily unique. Thank goodness [for Facebook Live], because that was so important for me to have the camaraderie and to share the day with my friends and family.”
England, who moved to the United States from England in his 20s, has always been a runner. But the sport took on a special meaning for him when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 14.
“It just knocked me backwards, and I didn’t know how to really deal with it,” England said. “The doctors were trying to tell me I could run, but I had to kind of limiting how much I would run. It felt like I had to change my life because of the diagnosis, and it took me many years to really change my mindset.”
Rather than shy away from running, England threw himself into it. Now an ambassador for Team Novo Nordisk, England competes as part of the world’s first all-diabetes sports team in an effort to empower athletes affected by the disease.
An ultra-marathoner, he has completed some of the world’s largest 100-mile races, and finished the inaugural Tahoe 200 in 78 hours, 58 minutes, with just three hours of sleep, in 2014.
He has run Boston so many times he’s lost count. He thinks this Monday would have been his eighth or ninth go, not counting the “double Boston” he ran in 2016, when he started at the finish line at 5:30 a.m. and ran to the start in Hopkinton, then back to Boylston Street with an official race time of 3:59.18.
While running his rooftop marathon, he encouraged followers to donate to the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University, where his regular care team is now helping to battle coronavirus. He said it was hard to keep track of the donations because he simply shared the link to the organization’s page, but estimated he had helped raise upwards of $1,000 Tuesday night.
“People have asked, ‘how did you even do that? That’s so difficult.’ And I answer that by saying, ‘This is only a few hours of my life,'” England said. “This is my one shift in the coronavirus. Think of all these amazing people from the medical teams, the grocery workers, transportation, these people are going shift to shift to keep the world moving.
“I put that into perspective, and there was never any doubt that this would happen. I said I would enjoy every step, and I really think I did.”
And yes, England and his wife are both entered to run the Boston Marathon this September.
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