A runner has completed a half-marathon - by running the length of his balcony 5,500 times.
Sam Hustler, 27, completed the 21km trek by completing roughly 5,500 "laps" of three metre balcony of his flat this morning.
He had been due to complete the London Landmarks Half Marathon, which would have seen him take in sights such as the Big Ben, St Paul's Cathedral and The Shard.
But due to the government-imposed restrictions of public gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic, event bosses have cancelled the race.
Organisers encouraged runners to get creative and identify their own local landmarks and map a run around hidden gems in their area on a solo run.
For live updates throughout the day on the coronavirus pandemic visit our liveblog.
However, Sam has been self-isolating with his girlfriend Chloe Skerritt, 28, since Monday when she developed a fever and a cough.
So instead, he had to make do with the views from his third floor apartment in South Woodford, Essex, as he completed the run in three hours with Chloe cheering him on.
Sam said: "It was going to be my first ever half-marathon and I was excited to do it, so it was devastating when it was cancelled.
"I had put so much training in and it's such a great cause I am running for, that I wanted to still do it anyway I could.
"I saw a video of a man in Italy who ran a full marathon on his balcony so I thought I could do a half-marathon on mine.
"I did a little 2km run on it on Tuesday and I thought well it's boring, but I can do it.
"We have been self-isolating since Monday. We're fine, but it's more of a precaution really.
"We took the decision to work from home and not go out a my mum works for the NHS and my dad has health issues so we didn't want to risk spread anything to vulnerable people."
Amateur cricket player Sam, who had never previously ran more than 11 miles, said he had been training hard for the half-marathon and did not want that training to go to waste.
He also wanted to honour his commitment to raising money for Haven House Children's Hospice, which supports children with life-threatening or life-limiting illnesses.
Sam added: "I've been running home from work in preparation for the event and really building up to it.
"Training had been going well and I was getting my speed up.
"I initially hoped to do it in under two hours but as the training went on I got quicker and I was probably on course to do it in less than an hour and 50 minutes.
"I really wanted to do it for Haven House and raise as much money as possible.
"They are an amazing charity that believes in the best possible life for every baby and child with a life-limited or life-threatening condition.
"They do so much for families who live in my community and I've seen the work they have done which is absolutely amazing.
"They've been going since 1990 and they've just put up an emergency appeal for funding.
"All their fundraising events have bee cancelled and their charity shops have had to close, which was a major source of their income."
Sam completed the half marathon on the balcony of his third-floor apartment in three hours and 42 minutes.
His girlfriend Chloe Skerritt, 28, made him a winner’s medal made from a discarded cereal box.
Speaking afterwards, Sam, from South Woodford in East London, said: “I will never in my life run on my balcony again - it’s reserved for drinking and only drinking.
“I’m happy to have done it although I’m not quite sure I know why I did it.
“The worst thing was that I couldn’t pick up any pace because there’s only so much room before you hit a wall or a window.
“The hardest aspect of the entire run was the mental part more than physical, because it’s so hard to push yourself when you’re not making much ground.
“It’s just the same short bit of balcony over and over again for over three hours.
“I don’t know how many podcasts I listened to, but I listened to the Tailenders podcast and Match of the Day.
“Had some great tunes on to keep me on pace, anything from McFly, to AC/DC and the Foo Fighters.”
The former musician said he air drums while running which also helped him keep on pace.
But he nearly gave up at the halfway point as his hips and groin began to burn up.
He said: “When you’re running such a short distance and you keep turning, you really start to feel it.
“It felt like I was running nowhere for the longest time.
“But now I’m ready to drink and watch Neflix all day.”
The runner used a combination of a fitbit, the Strava running app, and his phone to track his distance and time.
He was aiming to run the distance in three hours and 30 minutes, but finished in a very respectable three hours and 42.
During the course of the run he also raised roughly £200 for Haven House Children's Hospice, which supports children with life-threatening or life-limiting illnesses.
Visit here to donate to Sam's fundraising efforts.
