Eddie Izzard, the Marathon Man

In North America, Eddie Izzard isn’t exactly a household name, but in the UK he’s a bit of a legend.  A stand-up comic that can still sell out Radio City Music Hall for 4 nights, the 47 year old not only has staying power but is still growing professionally.  I had seen a few of his bits on Youtube and was looking for another when I came across a slew of articles on his try at running.   As he is portly with a sedentary lifestyle, I would’ve been impressed if he ran a marathon or half marathon, but it turns out he didn’t just run a marathon, he ran 43 marathons in 51 days.  That is something that most elite athletes couldn’t even dream of doing.  The average runner might only do 1 or 2 marathons a year and spend the rest of the time training, but Eddie who hadn’t really run since he was a kid, spent only 5 weeks of training before he set out on his mammoth task.  Oh, and in the process, he raised $400,000 for Sports Relief.  Truly inspirational.

Here are some articles and videos:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/article-23744688-eddie-izzard-on-becoming-a-marathon-man.do

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1213682/Eddie-Izzard-completes-mega-seven-week-marathon-blisters-blisters.html

Here is a youtube clip of the first episode from the documentary series on the run. There is some colourful language, consider yourself warned. Be sure to watch episode 2.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6