Durham University lockdown students run corridor marathon

Each of the 13 students completed 109 "laps" of the 15-metre long corridor

Students in lockdown at a North East university have run the equivalent of a marathon along a corridor to raise money for a musicians' charity.

The 15 Durham undergraduates had known each other for just two weeks when they went into isolation after two of them contracted coronavirus.

The remaining 13 decided to run along the 15-metre corridor more than 2,800 times to total 26.2 miles (42.1km).

They have so far raised £1,000 for Help Musicians UK.

The group, part of the university's Trevelyan College, set up a JustGiving page to collect funds for the charity, which supports professional musicians of all genres.

Starting shortly after 09:00 BST, each of the 13 freshers completed 109 "laps" of the corridor, with the challenge being completed in about six hours.

'Lot of fun'

Constance Froment, an 18-year-old music student from London, said: "We were assigned our household based on our love of music and a couple of us were having a conversation about how badly the industry has been hit by coronavirus.

"The government has called creative industries low-skilled, which made us angry because musicians make our world go round.

"It's scary looking at the current state of the industry because most of it isn't being given the recognition or financial support it merits.

"I'm not the most athletically minded person and it was hot running back and forwards, but it was a lot of fun. Everyone threw themselves into it."

Constance Froment (front) helped come up with the fundraising idea

Francesca Hibbit, an 18-year-old philosophy student from Dorset, added: "We're trying to keep ourselves busy. It's definitely been a bonding experience."

The group hope to be able to be out of isolation by next weekend if no further cases emerge within their household.