Last summer comedian Eddie Izzard completed 43 marathons in 51 days around the UK in aid of Sport Relief. This programme finds out how he managed to finish the gruelling endurance challenge after just five weeks of training. In the first episode, Eddie sets off from London and begins to struggle against severe weather and an unforgiving terrain. He makes a moving return to his old house in Skewen, South Wales, and faces an epic climb into the Brecon Beacons
The physical and mental strain of running consecutive marathons begins to take its toll on the comedian. He has run from London to Wales and completed 10 marathons, but with 33 to go, agonising injuries result in him being told to slow down and walk, while atrocious weather and gruelling roads force him to embark on an extreme diet
The comedian tackles his final 17 marathons in 19 days, travelling from Glasgow to London and being joined along the way by Denise Van Outen and Frank Skinner. Heading south he deals with extreme temperatures, painful stomach problems and insomnia, before suffering his worst injury so far and facing a race against time to make it to the finish line. Last in the series
Highlights of Eddie Izzard's ultimate human endurance challenge for Sport Relief, running 43 marathons in 51 days around the UK. Covering 1,166 brutal miles, he ran a marathon a day, six days a week, for eight weeks. Professional athletes would seriously struggle with this task, but for Eddie, an out of shape 47-year-old comedian, it seemed impossible. He had never run a timed marathon before and gives himself just over five weeks to train. Trailed by his very own bespoke ice cream van, Eddie encourages the nation to donate to Sport Relief and run with him, and meets the weird and wonderful British public in the most unlikely of places. Followed by a small support team and a film crew on a motorised rickshaw, every mile of his challenge is recorded, and they are with him when the physical and mental strains of completing consecutive marathons start to show. Riddled with blisters and injuries, only fierce determination carries him on. But in the pursuit of completing a challenge many deemed impossible, he has to struggle against severe weather, dangerous roads and an unforgiving terrain. Is this a heroic feat for Sport Relief, or the deranged scheme of a madcap comedian? This is the incredible story of a transvestite comedian rising to one of the most astonishing challenges in Sport Relief's history, and in doing so achieving something truly extraordinary and utterly inspirational.
Eddie Izzard pushes his body and sense of humour to the limit for Sport Relief as he attempts to run 27 marathons in 27 days, marking the 27 years Nelson Mandela spent in prison.
