Posts Tagged ‘london marathon’

Your Faucet Is Running

Worried about getting shut out of the London Marathon? Fear not, Running Is Funny has the solution with a solitary guaranteed entry, courtesy of Ecover and WaterAid.

There is one small catch. You have to run the race dressed like this:

See how thrilled this woman is to be wearing it? You can take her place and support clean drinking water around the world!

To run for Ecover, you’ll have to raise at least £1,750 in sponsorship for WaterAid and write a regular blog about your training and preparations for the marathon.

If you’re interested, you must register on the Ecover web site and “prepare a short submission, explaining why you should be selected.” The lucky runner will be selected on November 30.

Don’t be a drip! Sign up!

Kitchen Appliance Runner NOT an April Fool’s Joke

The red flags go up every April Fool’s Day so I was certain this was a joke.

Former British paratrooper Pete Digby will run this year’s London Marathon with a washing machine strapped to his back. He is raising funds for The Parachute Regiment Afghanistan Trust.

Sure, it sounds made-up, but Pete ran last year’s marathon with a refrigerator strapped to his back, and here’s a photo:

His finish time was 5:49:49.

There’s no telling what he might try next year, but a stove is likely. Or maybe a set of kitchen cabinets and a drawer of flatware.

That’s SOME Finish Line Photo

I was sifting through the various press accounts of the London Marathon looking for Carnival of Running material when I came across mention of the several “celebrities” who participated. As was the case with the Los Angeles Marathon, the word “celebrity” has been defined down to the point where you can call yourself one if you’ve ever appeared on a camera phone.

Anyway, several stories noted that British celebrity Michelle Heaton had to be taken away by stretcher and treated for exhaustion after completing the marathon in 5:29.  Her résumé includes appearances in The Truth About Binge Drinking and the BBC series Snog Marry Avoid?

Here’s the photo that Now Magazine chose to run with the story:

Running a marathon in that get-up would be exhausting, but fortunately there were newspapers, such as the Daily Mail, that got photos of what actually occurred:

Yesterday’s papers reported that Heaton is fine.

Press Leak

The Carnival of Running will have a short hiatus but will return on April 7. My apologies. In the meantime, enjoy this story from The Sun about how Princess Beatrice will have to hold it in during her “caterpillar run” in the London Marathon. Written – appropriately – by James Clench.

The Running Food Chain

In the last Carnival of Running, I highlighted the “battle of wills” between London Telegraph sports editor David Bond and a giant pink nurse during the running of the London Marathon.

Now we have the other side of the story, though we learn that the giant pink nurse was blissfully unaware of her duel in the sun with Bond. Instead, she was deep in competitive battle with a large rhino.

“I thought there’s no way I’m going to be beaten by a rhino so that got me going again.”

No word from the rhino yet, but no doubt he was striving to stay ahead of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

We Can Have Lots of Good Fun That Is Funny

Last week I told you about Ryan Desgrange, who was about to run the Glass City Marathon dressed as Rocky Balboa in an attempt to become the fastest marathoner dressed as a film character.

Evidently there is an entirely different category for marathoners dressed as cartoon characters – a mark Guy Cockroft will attempt to set in Sunday’s London Marathon. Guy will be dressed as The Cat in the Hat.

“I’ve told myself I’m going to do it but I think half the battle is psychological,” he said.

No word on whether Guy will hop up and down on a ball with two books in one hand and a cup on his head with a cake, and milk on a dish with a fish on a rake.

Goucher to Run London on Sunday?! UPDATED

Coach Salazar says it’s a long shot, but the slow pace of the women’s race doesn’t make it completely out of the question. What do you think? Has she lost her mind because she came up just nine seconds short, or could she do it?

UPDATE: On second thought, never mind.