It's that time of the year, most road races are coming to a close with the Christmas races around the country give us a last chance to post a best time for 2015. Spare a thought also for the East of Ireland Marathon Club who will be running back to back marathons this weekend.
It's sometimes difficult to gauge our time. Even trying to compare your time for the Cork Marathon to the Dublin Marathon, the difference in terrain and race day conditions can easily add 5 or 10 minutes here or there. With that in mind, I was found myself stumbling on a Wikipedia article showing the top celebrity marathon times and to be fair, I found myself wondering just who I was better than. The competitive side soon kicks in and you'll be saying "Surely I can beat them" before you reach the end of the list.
20. Mario Lopez - New York Marathon 2011 - 4:23:29
The 42-year-old host and actor has several marathons to his name, such as the Las Vegas Marathon in 2014, and the New York City Marathon (seems like most celebrities will at some point run in this one) in 2011, where he completed the race in 4:23:29. "Running has become therapeutic for me," he said. "I can clear my mind and I can just go through my day and have a lot of clarity. It's become sort of a ritual now."
19. Edwin van der Sar - New York Marathon 2011 - 4:19:16
The former Manchester United, Juventus and Fulham goalkeeper ran the New York Marathon back in 2011. The world class shot stopper proved to be a formidable runner with a respectable 4:19 in the New York Marathon
18. Sean Combs - New York Marathon 2003 - 4:14:52
Absent toenails, blisters on top of blisters, 43 marathons in 51 days. Having ran at least 27 miles a day, six days a week, over seven weeks, covering more than 1,110 miles of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, Izzard deserves to be on the list although he didn't actually run an official marathon. The achievement in itself is awe inspiring and we hope to talk to him in the future about his achievement.
17. Amanda Holden - London Marathon 2008 - 4:13:2
An impressive run came from TV presenter Amanda Holden, who completed her marathon in 2008 in an amazing 4 hours 13 minutes.
16. Sarah Palin - Humpy’s Classic Marathon 2005 - 3:59:36
Running a sub-4:00 marathon is high on some runners' goal lists, but can you imagine being able to say you ran a sub-4:00 and beat former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's time? Not too shabby for the former U.S. vice presidential candidate. While much ridiculed for her radical stance, respect has to be given for running a sub 4 marathon.