Kane Cornes ran a full marathon around his tennis court

Former Port Adelaide midfielder Kane Cornes completed an entire marathon, but did it isolation style – around his tennis court.

The SEN host ran a total of 42.2km in 239 minutes and raised $4,922 for the Hospital Research Fund the Fight campaign in the process.

Their aim is to help fund a clinical trial to find a cure for the coronavirus.

Cornes admits he underestimated the task he set for himself.

“It didn’t sound as crazy as it felt at about the 34km mark yesterday,” he told SEN’s Whateley.

“It was all fun and games until about 10 and the kids were playing footy on the tennis court as I was running and we had music going and it was all good, but fast forward about an hour and 20 minutes post that and it got really, really brutal.

“The idea just came about just staying home for 14 days after I came home from Victoria and doing the right thing and wondering how I was going to exercise. I went for a run around the tennis court on the first day back and I got to 20km and wasn’t too bad.

“I thought maybe I could do a marathon and raise some money, but it was very, very hard and I’m glad it’s done.

“I’m absolutely paying for it (this morning). For those that have done a marathon or any endurance event, it wasn’t the lungs in terms of the fitness, it was just the wear and tear on the legs.

“I didn’t understand, and I probably underestimated, the twists and turns of the tennis court. So, every 10 and then 30 metres you’re turning and it’s just brutal on your knees and your lower back and your hips and I’m not getting any younger.”

Cornes added that he had to reverse the direction he was running because of the soreness building up thanks to the constant turning around the tennis court.

“I changed (direction) at about the 22km mark I realised it was a stupid thing to do (doing the whole marathon in the same direction),” he said.

“I didn’t want to go back on my word and you say you’re going to do something and you usually do it, but I just had to (change direction) because my left hip was just killing and I thought I wasn’t going to finish unless I changed direction and it really helped that little change-up.”

The 300-gamer thanked everyone who watched the livestream and contributed by donating to the cause.

posted Monday April 13th