25 Celebrities Who’ve Run a Marathon
June 18, 2007 | Tags: actors • celebrities • entertainment • famous-people • Marathons • politicians • tv
Article Summary: A fun list and photos of actors, musicians, politicians, models and TV personalities who have run a marathon.
Ever wonder who among the rich and famous have run a marathon and how you stack up against them? So did I so I set out to compile a list. An hour of googling later I found out Wikipedia beat me to it but that list was a bit boring so I decided to have a little fun with it. Here’s the result - CRN’s list of 25 Celebrities Who’ve Run a Marathon.
Actor Marathoners |
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Meredith Baxter, Family Ties, New York City Marathon Joan ran her marathon in a very respectable 4:08:30. She’s gotta be a lot of people’s favorite TV moms. I think only Mrs. Cunningham from Happy Days is higher on my list. I think I like Joan even more than Mrs. C. now! |
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William Baldwin, New York City Marathon In acting, he’s always been overshadowed by his brother Alec. But not as an athlete - this guy can really run. His 3:24:29 finish shows real talent! |
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Anthony Edwards, Chicago Marathon A girl I once dated said I looked like Anthony. I guess that’s better than what some of my friends have said - that I look like Monty Burns. At any rate, Anthony Edward’s time of 3:55:40 is pretty darn good. |
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David James Elliott, JAG, Boston Marathon This Canadian star of JAG with his buff body looks like he should have run faster than 4:57:23. What do you think? |
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Will Ferrell, Boston Marathon He’s funny and fit. With a finish time of 3:56:12, Will Ferrell is a-ok in my books. |
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Mario López, Saved by the Bell, Boston Marathon With a 5:41:41 finish time, I’m thinkin’ Mario was getting stopped along the way by a lot of female admirers - especially if he was running without a shirt. |
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Joan Van Ark, Santa Ana 1979 Ya know, I always hated Joan Van Ark. Knot’s Landing and her character in particular drove me crazy. I dunno, maybe it’s a guy thing? Anyway, I have to say that, with a finish time of 3:35:00, I may have to change my assessment of Joan because she obviously rocks. |
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Peter Weller, New York City Marathon Showing machine-like determination, the Robocop himself got it done in 3:51:26. |
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Freddie Prinze, Jr., Los Angeles Marathon Ok, he’s young, he’s buff. What’s up with the 5:50:49? Freddy, stop stoppin’ for the girls and show us what you can do! |
TV Personality Marathoners |
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Danni Boatwright, Winner: Survivor: Guatemala, Nashville Country Music Marathon I’m thinking I might have to find Survivor Guatemala on DVD. Danni did Nashville in 4:23:24. |
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Lisa Ling, formerly of The View, Boston Marathon I hate The View (must be another guy thing) but I like Lisa. 4:34:18 |
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Oprah Winfrey, Marine Corps Marathon CRNs Anne wrote about Oprah’s influence on marathoners here. Whatever you think about Oprah, you have to hand it to her - she followed through on her program, met her goal and inspired a generation to get off the couch. 4:29:20 |
Musician Marathoners |
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P. Diddy (Sean Combs), New York City Marathon P. Diddy’s goal was to beat Oprah and he had his Victory with a time of 4:14:54. Not bad. Not bad at all. |
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David Lee Roth, former lead singer of Van Halen, New York City Marathon David Lee Roth was my high school hero. I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive Eddie, Alex and Michael for dumping him from Van Halen. About his 6:04:43 finishing time? I pretty much guarantee he stopped to |
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Björn Ulvaeus, former member of Swedish band ABBA, Stockholm Marathon. Those Swedes have always had a reputation for being fit. ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus is an obviously perfect example. Wow! Color me impressed. 3:23:54! I wonder if his mother knows? |
Athlete Marathoners |
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Lance Armstrong, Seven-time Tour de France champion and triathlete, New York City Marathon Well, way too much has been written about Lance’s marathon debut. Anyone who can run a 2:59:36 is a pretty damn good runner in most people’s books. It remains to be seen just how good Lance can get. I guess we’ll get an idea when he runs his next marathon. |
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Kerri Strug, Gymnast, Houston Marathon. Who could forget Kerri’s unbelievable display of courage and determination when she finished her Olympic gymnastics routine on a busted up ankle? With that kind of courage she’s obviously made for marathons and 4:12:06 ain’t nothing to sneeze at. |
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Lynn Swann, former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, New York City Lynn Swann was a true football great. What I like about his finishing time is it shows that great athletic achievement in one sport doesn’t necessarily equal greatness in another. His 4:26:21 finish = good but not great. |
Politician Marathoners |
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George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States, Houston Marathon His 3:44:52 included the time he spent on the course searching for weapons of mass destruction - imagine if he’d just ran the damn thing. |
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Michael Dukakis, Former Governor of Massachusetts, Boston Marathon I always thought he was kind of dweeby but, with a 3:31:00 finish time, there’s obviously more to him than meets the eye. |
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John Edwards, Former United States Senator, Marine Corps Marathon Two politicians in a row in the 3:30s. John Edwards is a pretty good runner. I wonder if politicians make good runners because of the strong strong will and determination they develop from fighting all those long political battles? 3:30:18 |
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Al Gore, Vice President of the United States at the time, Marine Corps Marathon Gore’s 4:58:25 isn’t very fast but at least he left a small environmental footprint while running it. |
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Mikuláš Dzurinda, Prime Minister of Slovakia, Malokarpatsky Marathon 2:54:57! Wow! Mikulas is not just a runner - he’s an avid runner. With 13 marathons and a PR of 2:54:57, the Prime Minister of Slovakia puts his nation into Superpower status among all the other politicians. Not only that, he’s the fastest runner on this whole list - he even kicked Lance’s butt! |
Model Marathoners |
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Kim Alexis, model, New York City Marathon Kim finished in 3:52:00. Ya know, I’ve always wanted to be a pace bunny for the 3:52:00 New York Marathon pace group. |
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Ali Landry, model, Boston Marathon Ya know, I’ve also always wanted to be a pace bunny for the 5:41:41 Boston Marathon pace group. |
On that last thought, if you know of any other models or famous people who need someone to pace them through a marathon, please let me know because I’d be more than happy to do it. I know what you’re thinking - that I’m too generous.
It’s a tough job but someone’s gotta do it.
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Help Me Compile the Next Celebrity List!
I’d really like to build a comprehensive listing(s) of celebrities who run - not just the ones who’ve run a marathon. Want to help me? If you do, please tell me about all the famous people know about so I can get started!
Written by Mark Iocchelli · Filed Under Famous/Celebrity Runners
(5 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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Roger Craig of the 49ers has run something like 3:50.
Peter Fonseca, now an MPP here, has run around 2:10. I don’t know how much that counts though.
Didn’t John Kerry claim to have run Boston?
Will Farrell’s wife is a multi-time marathoner and she paced him. He tells funny stories about running along with her saying “Look honey - it’s the Empire State Building!” and him responding “GREAT, WONDERFUL! SO WHAT??!!” because she was just loping along and he was in pain.
PS - love your commentary - very clever.
I thought Lance was done with marathons. He isn’t really a sub 3 guy but he’s so competitive that he did it anyhow and it hurt!
Armstrong is already signed up to run NYC again this year, I think. Although his name isn’t in the entrant database, so perhaps I heard wrong.
I’ve heard that “musician” Fergie is training for a marathon. You can find ton’s of pictures of her running while wearing a fuel belt, but I haven’t heard which marathon she’s running or if she’s already run one.
Adeel & Vanilla: Thanks for the tips. Adeel, I’ve read that Kerry’s claim to have run a marathon is questionable?
21st: hahah! That’s a great anecdote.
Blaine: Yeah, Armstrong was said to be signing up for NY but I haven’t heard much about that lately.
Great report. But what year (how old was he) did W run his M? We all know Houston is flat. I’m astonished at Edwards’ time.
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Vanessa Carlton (singer) ran NYC in 2005. Pretty good time with a net of 3:56:20.
I wish you inclued the years of these races
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Natalie Morales of the Today Show ran the 2006 NYC Marathon in 3:31.02. She’s apparently run several other marathons but said this one was a PR!
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Great article, I can’t improve on it at all, so I hope you don’t mind if I copy it and refer back !
May not mean much to Americans, but Michael Watson, a former boxer from the UK, also ran/walked the London Marathon in 2003. Michael suffered a serious brain injury in a fight with Chris Eubank and went into a coma for 40 days. Over a period of two years he finally began to recover the ability to walk, and finished his marathon in 6 days.
Also Danny Wallace, former Manchester Utd and England International Footballer did the London Marathon in 2006. Danny now suffers from Mutiple Sclerosis and took 6 days to complete the event.
you forgot Katie Holmes- Cruise
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Jason Bateman has run the LA marathon a few times.
He also has run a few other races as well. I knew he had run marathons, but this site showed me the other races: http://ww2.athlinks.com/myresu.....d=32271582
it’s really helpful!
I’m surprised at Bush’s time..he did really well!
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It’s easy to criticise if you haven’t done it yourself, but some of those times are pretty tragic. I thought it’d be a lot faster. Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey regularly runs marathons and averages around 3:30. And he’s about 15 stone, I think.
Also Armstrong has gone as fast as 2:47, I believe.
Alexandra Paul, of Baywatch fame, did the 1997 Hawaii Ironman in 13:18:52.
George Bush’s time compared to some of the other, much more visually fit-looking names, is unreal.
Sheamuss last blog post..10 Strange Things I Have Seen While Running (Plus Day 46)
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You have made a glaring error, old boy, what-what!!
David Lee Roth wasn’t dumped by Van Halen — HE LEFT to pursue a solo career.
So, blame Mr. Roth for one history’s POOREST DECISIONS.
Silly sausages, what-what-what!
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Got a new politician to add to the list!
Sarah Palin ran 3:59:36 at Humpy’s Anchorage Marathon on August 21, 2005.
Not too shabby!
Blaine Moore (Run to Win)s last blog post..How can you stay competitive as you age?
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[...] Ever wonder who among the rich and famous have run a marathon and how you stack up against them? So did I so I set out to compile a list. An hour of googling later I found out Wikipedia beat me to it but that list was a bit boring so I decided to have a little fun with it. Here’s the result - CRN’s list of 25 Celebrities Who’ve Run a Marathon. [...]