The Virgin London Marathon is just 1 day away… yes, that’s right.. 1 day until thousands of feet pound the streets of London and take part in the biggest fundraising show on earth!
So you’ve done the training, acquainted yourself with injuries, contorted yourself within bizarre Yogic stretches…you’ve spent half your salary on snazzy running shoes and your wardrobe is packed full of day-glo running vests, speedy looking shorts and odd compression gear that you’ve learned to squeeze your new running bod into … now what?
Well, if you’re doing what you’re supposed to you’ll be taking it easy and in taper mode. So whilst the punishing training runs have eased up and you’re carbo loading .. a little entertainment and motivation is in order:
First up… which celebrities from the world of film, sport, fashion and music can you expect to see and possibly run alongside at the Virgin London Marathon 2011? It’s probably not the best place to be asking for an autograph but you never know, you could be chinwagging with a celeb and even help motivate each other has you hit ‘The Wall’ to reach the Finish Line.
Matthew Pinsent & James Cracknell are more used to winning gold medals for rowing but tomorrow these two Olympians will have the Virgin London Marathon finishers medal in their sights.
Pinsent, running for Alzheimer’s UK, is aiming for a time of under 4 hours whilst Cracknell, who suffered a head injury last year whilst racing across America, has admitted it’s going to be a tough challenge. He has previously run the London Marathon in under 3 hours.
Sophie Raworth is a familiar face in the UK, presenting the BBC’s 1 o’clock news as well as documentaries and other programmes across the channel. She’ll be running tomorrow to raise money for Cancer Research UK. This her first attempt at the marathon and no doubt it’s been difficult fitting in training around her hectic work schedule and three young children.
Award winning Charlie Brooks who plays rotten Janine Butcher in BBC soap Eastenders will be running for Sparks the Children’s Medical Research Charity and Marie Curie Cancer Care
Will Young has sold 9 million records worldwide and opened this year’s Virgin London Marathon Expo. He is running for Catch 22.
Other Celebs you can expect to see along the 22.6 mile course will be:
London based restaurateur Tom Aikens who became the youngest ever Michelin-starred chef at the age of 26. He’s running for the Marine Conservation Society
Ronni Ancona – actress/impressionist/comedienne and writer. But did you know she is also a trained designer and qualified teacher. She’s hoping to add the London Marathon to her list of achievements as well as successfully raising funds for Trinity Hospice.
Michel Roux Jr runs the Michelin starred Le Gavroche and is an internationally acclaimed chef. Michel is familiar to any of us who watch the massively popular BBC show MasterChef. He’s a keen runner and has run 19 marathons in the last 15 years. He will be running in support of the children’s charity VICTA, for which he is a patron, and also the Dispossessed Fund. He’s been battling with shin splints and sciatica in recent weeks but hopes that cheering crowds will help push him on to finish in under four hours.
The pneumatic Katie Price, aka Jordan, unfortunately has had to withdraw from the London Marathon this year. She’s been plagued by injury since having to drop out last year. Get better soon and hope to see you run in 2012 Katie.
Click for a full list of all the celebrities and the charities that they will be running for there’s more information available.
