'Crazy' Eddie determined to finish 1,000-mile marathon
Eddie Izzard said today he is determined to complete his “crazy” challenge to run more than 1,000 miles around the UK to raise cash for charity.
The comedian and actor, 47, is running 30 miles a day – further than the length of a marathon – for Sport Relief.
Speaking on GMTV, Izzard, who only trained for just over a month, admitted the idea was “slightly crazy”.
But he said he had the willpower to complete the task, expected to take around seven weeks.
Izzard set off from London last month and had reached Powys in mid-Wales by today, after running 10 “marathons”.
Asked why he had decided to take on the Eddie Iz Running adventure, Izzard, sporting bandaged feet, said: “I don’t really know.
“I think running is very primal. We used to hunt in this way.
“Anyone should be able to do this, it’s not actually that complicated.
“It’s a marathon a day and that’s probably what people used to run and hunt something.
“I just do the same thing at the end. I just sort of spear a Twix and have a Diet Coke, it’s that kind of thing.
“But it is slightly crazy and my feet are slightly disintegrating. But I’ll make it because I’m determined...
“My body isn’t really determined, but my brain is.”
An ice cream van accompanying Izzard is giving out ice creams in the hope that people will make donations in return.
Two tents, a camper van and a sports therapist are also among Izzard’s entourage.
Asked about preparation, Izzard said: “Well, I was told I was supposed to do five months of training, but I don’t like training so I did five weeks of training.
“I just said ’I’m going to do it’.
“Sport Relief said ’Do you want to do something?’...
“And I said ’Well, what about this?’ and they said ’Well, that’s kind of crazy’.
“But I said ’Well, I’m doing it. Would you like me to ... get people to sponsor me?’.
“And so they said yes.”
He added: “Yesterday I did my 10th marathon in 11 days. I take one day off a week.
“Then I’m going to go all the way back, through all the capitals.
“And it’s the idea that we’re all the same. Just like the United Kingdom, Africa, we’re all humanity.”
Izzard, who is tweeting about his travels on the Twitter website, said members of the public have turned up “out of the blue” to support him, including a running team from Builth Wells during his time in Wales.
“I’m just meeting people on the way so it’s really nice,” he said.
The public can show their support by sponsoring Izzard via his website www.eddieizzard.com and follow his journey on his Twitter feed www.twitter.com/eddieizzard.
Since 2002, the Sport Relief charity has raised millions of pounds and next year’s event will take place between March 19 and 21.
