Mountain runner Heidi Davies is one of Mid Wales’s top sporting stars.

 
In October, she moved from her home in Llandrindod Wells to the mountains of Northern Italy, where she would train, and teach English in schools.


Little did she know that a few months later, she’d be living in one of the most beautiful places in the world, in lockdown – not knowing when she’ll be able to see her family again.


“We’re stuck in one of those dystopian future films full of doom – just the setting isn’t quite right,” Heidi wrote on her blog. “How can a place so beautiful be enduring such grave times?


“This is life in Italy. This is life with the threat of the coronavirus lurking behind every handshake, every hug, every kiss, every touch. This is life at least one metre away from another human being. This is life inside lockdown.”


Heidi lives in Malonno. When coronavirus first hit the area, schools, gyms, swimming pools and other public places were shut, and bars were only allowed to open from 6am to 6pm, in a bid to limit the crowding of people in public places. 


Now, over three weeks on, things have drastically changed. In the beginning there were just 400 cases isolated to the northern region of the country. Italy now has more than 30,000 cases and the whole country is in the red zone. 


“The authorities have ordered us to all stay at home. Everything is shut beside food shops and pharmacies and only one person per family is permitted to enter these places,” Heidi said. 


Travel throughout the country is strictly prohibited, unless an exception is made upon special request. If you don’t follow these rules then your movements are deemed to be unlawful – and you could even end up behind bars.


Heidi planned to go back to Wales for a few days in April and her grandmother was hoping to visit her out in Malonno too. Now, that’s all out of the question.


“The flights are all cancelled and I don’t know when I will see my family again,” she said.


“I’m just so glad I’m in lockdown in such a beautiful place here in the mountains in Malonno. At least here I can still go into the woods and follow the paths up into the mountains where I know I won’t meet anyone and I can still gain the headspace and moments of movement I crave in the open air. I know I am very lucky to live here – now more than ever.”


Heidi can still train, but with all sporting events being prohibited in the country until April 3, it’s unknown when things will get back up and running again. This week, Heidi was supposed to be on a training camp in Fuerteventura.


“It helps to remain positive, so I’m using these strange times as a chance to concentrate on my training. 


“It’s a bit like a training camp but alone and with a strange eerie silence outside. I’m also using the time to try to sharpen up my Italian skills - maybe becoming properly fluent by April 3 is a bit of a challenge?”