Celebrity flash quotes

On finishing the 2026 TCS London Marathon:

“We are really please as we finished under 6 hours and that we only did a small amount of walking.

“Daddy showed up, determined to have fun and inspired his whole family to be active” 

On support they received:

“It was a great event, well-organised, and we felt a lot of love out there from the fans so thank you.

“We ran for the National Deaf Children’s Society. It is a great charity to run for, and we are hoping we have smashed our target of £58,000 raised which is how many young deaf children there are in the country.” 

Who is behind the Daddy Pig costume?

“Daddy Pig is a Pig!”

“I want to announce that I want one more go at paralympics, in LA [LA Olympics, 2028]”. 

“Crowd pulled me through all the way” 

“Today was a world record day” 

“Jet lag: what’s that all about?”

On setting a personal best:

“I am very happy as this is a big PB for me. Strangely I had the worst training – it has been a real rollercoaster but running gives me a real sense of purpose."

On giving advice to other runners:

“I think it takes six marathons before I’m qualified to give advice.”

On rivalry with fellow musicians:

“There is a real rivalry in the music world – Harry Styles has definitely put me back in my box!" 

On running his first marathon:

“I’m full of adrenaline! You just are swimming along in a sea of people but I am very happy that I managed to finish. I’ve never done a running competition before so today exceeded my expectations. It is great to go under three hours but the last 10 miles felt really long.”

On how running differs from F1 racing: 

“I found the crowd really helpful, and close by as it can be lonely out on a Grand Prix track in a small space in an F1 car! It was great to share it with people today. I had my headphones and music, but I didn’t listen – I listened to the crowd and fellow runners."

“I’m so emotional and at 5K I just thought ‘oh my God’! It seemed to go so slow at half way but I put a lot of pressure on myself and I went out hard.

“I’m very proud of myself – I was inspired by watching my friend complete it last year and thought I need to do that! It was so much harder than training.”

On running for the Charity of the Year, Marie Curie:

“I feel super exhausted and emotional.

“A charity like Marie Curie doesn't just help a certain disease, age or demographic – they help everybody.”

“The more money they raise increases capability and can get to people who need it most.

 “It's so good to be running this with my brother and working together in giving each other that backing and support. Blood is so important.”

On running the London Marathon for the third time:

“I absolutely loved it, all the team, volunteers, spectators make this marathon so special.

“This was my third time signing up so it’s been third-time lucky.

“The training really paid off.”

On his emotions:

“I’ve never had such a mixture of emotions, the experience has been phenomenal. I feel privileged to take part.

“Having that Finish Line 500 yards away was the biggest motivation towards the end, but I had no understanding of how difficult the last 12K would be.” 

“I won’t pretend I enjoyed it but the London Marathon is just a great place to be. The crowd here are amazing.

“I feel the more I do, the more lives I save.” 

On his time this year:

“I tried to go sub-three but didn’t quite manage it. I was on pace for the majority of it then [had] the good old-fashioned blow up at 21 miles but dragged my sorry body through the last four or five miles.”

“Happy because it was 10 minutes quicker than last year but sad because I wanted to break sub-three.

“But the support around there, I didn’t really appreciate it last year but I really appreciated the spectacle this year. I tried to take it in and it was just extraordinary.”

On if it felt like getting out on 95 in a cricket match:

“Probably not this time as I don’t think it was in there [possible] this time. I was never quite on it. It’s such a strange feeling going down the last bit [on The Mall]. You put yourself under pressure in your sport but nothing can compare to that feeling of pain down that last bit.”

On supporting the Ruth Strauss Foundation: 

“More importantly now, Andrew [Strauss] and the boys and the great Foundation they have set up over the last ten years in memory of Ruth. Dealing with grief for lost oved ones and also supporting the treatment and prevention of non-smoking lung cancer.”

“A year ago, I was supposed to run but I had to pull out because my father died, so I did it in memory of him this year.”

“It’s just the most extraordinary feeling going through the course. All the people from all the different backgrounds, the music, it’s fantastic.”

“At around 20K I wanted to pull into the side of the road and stop. Your brain is telling you all the reasons why you should stop but I thought, ‘I can't face my kids and say I gave up.’ 

“Marathon running is a bit harder than comedy, but easier than parenting. My wife is the one who’s had a really stressful three hours taking our kids around London.”

On the lows: “A lot of hip pain and knee pain and just thinking, why did I do this? Can I even do this?”

And the highs: “I have to say, the general public, my friends and family, I genuinely don’t think I could have done it without them. The sincerity of people doing this race, people talked to me about it, but to experience it is a big thing. You see the best of people in it.”

“This is absolutely up there in the top three [life experiences] next to meeting Beyonce and interviewing Sir Elton John.”

“I’ve definitely seen a shift in what people enjoy doing for fun and I think that’s definitely linked to a lot of people living a sober life or a life without, let’s just say, extra indulgences. I know so many people that don’t drink, don’t smoke, and running is a great social release for them as well as a healthy thing.”

And how does she plan to celebrate? “I’m going to go get a burger.”

“I got on really well today, I PB’d, 3:21:46, last time round in 2022 I did 3:35 so I think this was really successful. The atmosphere was just amazing, I don’t know how many times I heard my name screamed around the course it was wild and insane, there was a little rough moment where I thought I wasn’t going to make It but then I found a little bit of strength and I had a friend helping me so, I’m here and I’m really proud.”

You are a morning person so how early did you get up today?  “I got up at 5am.” 

It was warm out there how was that? 

“It was delightful because I have been doing all my training on a treadmill so I have been hot, there was a beautiful breeze the whole way so it was lovely.” 

Rumour has it you are back on stage tomorrow? 

“I am back on stage tomorrow at 7:30pm, so I should be fine, I think I will be alright but I might be a little slower than usual.” 

Why London Marathon again? 

“It is home. It is really good to be on that course, my mum is here, my sister is here who always meets me at mile 21 and yells my name and screams and has a big old card. It feels like a homecoming.” 

What about a double marathon next year? 

“That would be amazing but I may be just watching next year.” 

Running allows you to be ‘Cynthia’ again tell us about that. 

“I just get to centre, I process all the things that are going on in my life and get to think about the things that I want to think about and zone out for a second, meditate for a second and just be me, no makeup, no nothing, no costume – just me.” 

On running after three hours sleep:

“That was fun but very tough. I only had 3 hours sleep last night as I did the X Factor live.”

“I was hoping to do a little bit better. I was trying for a sub 4 hours.”

“I had hoped to clear my diary from work in order to do more training, but work has been so busy so it was not textbook preparation.”

On running being her therapy:

“I adapted to the circumstances and running is my therapy. I go 4 times a week.”

“I’d love to do New York but I really need to sort out my schedule to do so.”

On the experience of his first London Marathon:

“It was a brilliant experience, probably my last London Marathon! I did it with Matt Hampson [the former Under-21 England rugby player who was paralysed from the neck down after a scrummaging accident].

“There was five of us who started off pushing him in the chair, we lost a couple but we did it under five hours. It was a cool experience; I am glad for Matt that we managed to do it and glad I was able to aid him a little bit.

“It was enjoyable, the people are amazing. People always say about the London Marathon that the support will get you round.”

On why he’s supporting Matt Hampson:

“Matt has been very good to a friend of mine. Graham Lee, who was a jockey who won the Grand National, he won the Royal Ascot Gold Cup on the flat and lots of big flat races. He got paralysed and has a C3 injury as well [as Matt] so is paralysed from the neck down.

“You can have all the help and have all the people to council you and tell you what life is like but there’s no one to do that like Matt Hampson who has been like that for 20 years. He’s just been better to Graham than anyone.

“I’ve been very lucky in life, I’ve probably rode more horses than anyone else, put myself in more dangerous positions than anyone else and I was very lucky. Obviously, I had lots of serious injuries; I broke my back a couple of times and broke everything, but I was able to walk away and not everyone is that lucky.

“I’ve seen what Matt has done for Graham and what he’s done for lots of other people, not just rugby players but other people involved in sport and other walks of life.

“I think it’s important that if you’re in a position to be able to do things like that [run a marathon] then you should do. For a 51-year-old I am a reasonably fit person, so it would’ve been pure laziness for me not to do it.

On why he is one and done with marathon running:

“I was quite happy to run London Marathon and push Matt Hampson, I did push him a good bit of the way, because to do it in under five hours is a great thing. I have no desire to be running it on my own merit and my own terms and thinking I was that bad, I cannot risk that, my ego is way too big.”

Oldest finisher at 88, 22nd London Marathon. On running at 88: “I had a bit of pain here and there but despite the pain, I loved every minute”

On training: “I was running every other day”

On the support: “With my name on my top, everyone knew who I was”