The coronavirus pandemic has left most of the world in lockdown, forcing people to come up with alternative ways to spend their days until restrictions are lifted.
Exercise challenges like the 'Run 5, Nominate 5, Donate 5’ have emerged as a popular means of entertainment with the bonuses of staying fit and contributing to a good cause.
The Run For Heroes campaign encourages participants to use their permitted daily exercise to run 5 kilometres, donate £5 and nominate five people to do the same.
Premier League footballers have been getting involved while they’re unable to train properly, with Ross Barkley and Scott McTominay posting some impressive times on social media.
The Chelsea midfielder claimed to complete his 5km run in a stunning 16 minutes 11 seconds, only for the Manchester United youngster to beat it by ten seconds.
It should come as no surprise that several members of the Red Devils squad are taking the challenge seriously and trying to outdo each other, according to Daniel James.
“A lot of the boys are going outside, doing runs and sending them in. It’s a competition to get the best 5km time,” the Wales international said, per The Times.
“It’s been good, nice and competitive still. Scott is winning at the moment and I don’t think anyone is going to top it.”
Well, he’s almost certainly right when you look at how McTominay’s time stacks up against the achievements of actual middle-distance runners.
According to the times collated on the Power of 10 website, the Scottish midfielder would’ve clocked the 28th fastest time recorded by a British runner had it come in a competitive race.
When you disregard times recorded abroad and compare his effort to only those set on British soil, it’s even more astounding.
McTominay’s 16.01 would’ve put him seventh in the standings for races in the UK this year.
The Times also note that the 23-year-old actually ran 5.03km, meaning his time would’ve been approximately 15.55 had he not run the extra 30m.
While it’s still some way off the top athletes in the world - Mo Farah won gold at the London Olympics in 2012 with a time of 13.41 - let it take nothing away from McTominay.
The academy graduate is clearly well ahead of the average footballer when it comes to middle distance running, though we shouldn’t be overly surprised by his prowess.
Last November, United revealed McTominay covered more ground than any of his club teammates in the first 12 league matches of the season (130.88km).
No prizes for guessing which Red Devil is in the best condition whenever football resumes.