4th Mar 2010
Last summer one of Britain’s best-loved comedians, Eddie Izzard, completed the ultimate challenge of human endurance as he completed a staggering 43 marathons in 51 days around the UK for Sport Relief.
An inspiring and, at times, emotional journey of discovery was captured on film and Eddie Izzard: Marathon Man, is a three-part documentary following Eddie’s epic endeavour, with part one airing on BBC Three tonight.
The series looks at how, in the summer of 2009, Eddie took on this gruelling feat for Sport Relief, covering a mind-blowing 1,166 miles. Following every step of his journey, the documentary gets to the painful heart of what drove him to achieve the seemingly impossible, as well as how he struggled with and overcame the physical and mental battering from running consecutive marathons.
Professional athletes would struggle with this challenge, but Eddie, who’d never run a marathon before, gave himself just over five weeks to prepare. As the miles clocked up, it became all too clear that Eddie’s body may not be able to sustain him as it came under attack from all sides.
Eddie endured a host of obstacles: adverse weather conditions, tough terrain, crippling injuries, painful stomach problems from his extreme diet of over 6,000 calories a day, the tortuous daily routine of nightly ice baths and, to top it off, bouts of insomnia.
Eddie said: “It’s been hell, 26 miles a day is a lot. Try that six times a week. At first the last six miles were pure agony. Then it changed to the first six miles. Then it was the middle chunk. But now it’s pretty much all the same. My feet are disintegrating, the small toes have lost their nails and they look like alien monsters but I'm told they will grow back. But I’ll make it; my body isn’t really determined but my brain is.”
Despite these mounting problems, Eddie didn’t give up and was rewarded for his herculean efforts with a special award at the 2009 BBC Sports Personality of the Year. To date he has raised over £300,000 for Sport Relief.
The documentary also meets the British public who, moved by his challenge, came out to give him their moral support sometimes in the most unlikely of places and captures the moments when he was joined by celebrities Frank Skinner and Denise Van Outen in Edinburgh. A bespoke ice-cream van, playing the Chariots of Fire theme tune, accompanies Eddie throughout, spurring him on and collecting donations.
To really get to the heart of Eddie’s challenge, tune in to BBC Three tonight at 10.30pm – and show Eddie your support by sponsoring him here!
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