HERMISTON — When the thing you were looking forward to gets canceled, sometimes you have to just make do with what you’ve got.

For Liz Sharon, that meant a “mini marathon” in Hermiston on Friday after her real marathon, the Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon in Las Vegas, was called off because of COVID-19.

Sharon had been in training since December and planned to run the full marathon on Saturday with her younger sister, followed by some vacation time together. Instead, on Friday she ran a half marathon (13.1 miles) up and down the bicycle lane on Highland Avenue in Hermiston, being careful not to touch things along the route or get too close to any passerby.

“When the race got canceled I was so sad, but I felt so silly being sad when so many more serious things are going on in the world, with people losing their jobs and all the deaths,” she said. “But it’s hard when you work so hard for something, and have a goal.”

Trying to make lemonade out of lemons, her husband Joseph Sharon and their children did what they could to help create a race atmosphere. They took turns running segments with her, handed out water along the way and were there to cheer for her at the “finish line.” Her sister called her to cheer her on.

After her husband posted about the family activity on Facebook, several family friends also took the time to drive by and honk or cheer from a safe distance away.

“That meant so much to me,” Sharon said. “I wanted to give them a hug, but of course you can’t.”