Kelly Brook took on the London Marathon on Sunday, crossing the finish line in 6:42:20. After signing up in November, the 45-year-old TV and radio personality decided not to adopt an overly competitive attitude or put excessive pressure on herself, and trained consistently to achieve her goal of completing the 26.2-mile course.
‘It’s overwhelming, but it’s just unbelievable,’ she said to BBC Sport. At another point in the 56,000-strong run, she said, ‘It’s incredible. We’re at 8k and the atmosphere is insane.’ Here are her finishing split times for each section of the marathon, as released by Run247:
After shedding a few tears of relief and overwhelm immediately after finishing, she was soon beaming happily. On the cab ride home, she held up her medal next to husband Jeremy Parisi, who ran beside her the entire time, in a photo posted on both their Instagram Stories. ‘Champions’, he said, while Kelly’s triumphant caption read: ‘We did it 🏃🏃♀️🥇.’
Her preparation initially involved focusing on increasing the time she ran for (rather than the mileage), finding new routes for her long runs, adding in strength training, and, as a Radox ambassador, recovering with baths and massages.
Despite her self-proclaimed fledgling status – on RunPod she revealed, ‘I just want to make sure I finish it and I’m able to do the whole thing!’ – she soon improved her endurance. ‘Before Christmas I was only running 2-3k before getting tired,’ she shared with The Sun. ‘7k now is a warm-up so, whatever happens on the day, I have made such progress in terms of my running capabilities.’
She’s also turned to a secret weapon, according to The Sun. ‘I have gone through pots of Vaseline,’ she said. ‘Nothing prepares you for the chafing! I was bleeding after 10k.’
‘I am so proud to have run the marathon with Radox today. It was my toughest challenge yet, but as soon as I crossed the finish line it was all worth it. Any marathon is a huge mental and physical challenge, and it’s hard to know how you’ll hold up until you’re actually running. However, we did our best to support our minds and bodies throughout our training. It was great to have Radox support our journey and help us stay in tip-top condition in the lead up to marathon day.’
Speaking to Gabby Logan on BBC Sport, she said, ‘Anyone can do it if I can do it.’
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