Rob Deering failed to complete his 11th London Marathon today, saying his ‘body was not ready’ – while Joel Dommett pushed himself so much he fainted and came round in an ambulance.
The Masked Singer host setting a cracking pace of 1hr 29min for the first half of the 26-mile race. But it took him 6hrs 3mins to finish after his unexpected pit stop.
He wrote on Instagram: ‘Not the race I expected! I fainted at mile 17 - don’t really remember much but I woke up in an ambulance!
‘After a few hours my pulse was back and I got going again at a very different pace but really got to soak it all in. Proud of myself for finishing.’
He raised more than £3,500 for Brain Tumour Support and had previously pledged to try to finish in under three hours.
Last year Dommett ran the 26 miles in 5hrs 19 mins – while wearing the Piranha Masked Singer costume as a fundraising stunt for Shooting Star Children's Hospice.
Meanwhile, Deering pulled out of today’s race just after the halfway mark, having been running for more than 2hrs 40 mins.
The comic fractured his rib six weeks ago and even before the race admitted he would be ‘slower and steadier’ than normal.
Now he has promised to complete the Edinburgh Marathon in four weeks time, and hoped those who had sponsored him to the tune of £1,685 for Parkinson’s UK would roll their contribution over to that event.
He thanked fellow comic Helen Thorn, of the Scummy Mummies double act, for helping him get halfway. A dedicated long-distance runner with nine previous marathons under her belt, she recorded the best time of all the comedians taking part in the 26-mile race today, of 4hrs 30mins.
She was followed by Jack Skipper (5hrs 4mins); Romesh Ranganathan (6hrs 2mins) and Shamaz Ali (6hr 16min).
Ranganathan, 47, improved on his 2024 time of six-and-a-half hours
Deering’s best ever marathon time was 3hrs 14mins a decade ago – putting him in the top seven per cent of runners in the UK. Last year he completed the 26 miles in 4hrs 1min.
His co-host of the running-themed podcast Running Commentary, fellow comedian Paul Tonkinson, was also listed as taking part today, but did not start the race, according to the official timings.
» Rob Deering takes on his 11th London Marathon
