Kiwi marathon runner Malcolm Hicks is holding on to his Tokyo Olympic dream despite the risks of living and training in COVID-19-ravaged Europe.
In March, the Aucklander chose to stay in Europe instead of returning home, and he's been moving around the continent to avoid the pandemic hotspots ever since.
Autumn leaves and mud used to pose the biggest threat when Hicks went for a training run, but this year, there's something more deadly in his path.
"The virus attacks the respiratory system so for a marathon runner it's quite obvious why that would be a bad thing," Hicks tells Newshub.
In February, the 33-year-old qualified for the Olympics at the Saville Marathon with a time of 2h 10m, just before the Tokyo Games were delayed.
"It gave us another 12 months of planning, preparation and the goal is still the same," he says.
With a killer virus to avoid, Hicks spends as little time as possible in public.
"I'm just not putting myself in any risky situations and scenarios," he says.
"If anyone's caught the tube in London you know how busy it can be, so things like that are just off the cards for me."
Increasing rates of COVID-19 in the UK have prompted him to move to St Moritz in the Swiss Alps, where cases were low and the altitude high.
"I spent a couple of months altitude training up there and it was probably the safest place to be in Europe at the time."
He has since moved to East London, where the beautiful yet busy Victoria Park has become his training ground.
But the park was closed to the public in the first lockdown meaning he couldn't use it, and with another lockdown looming, he's moving out of the city.
"There's no need to be close to the office anymore so we are moving further out of the city to Southwest London," he adds.
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