This Sunday signifies the comeback of the event.
London
The marathon scheduled for 2025 will take place on the
BBC
As the iconic event reaches its 45th year.
Initiated in 1981, the
The London Marathon gets hundreds of thousands of applications each year.
From both professional and recreational runners across the globe.
Each year – whether for novices or experts –
There are many well-known personalities.
In the realm of television and entertainment, frequently organizing fundraising efforts for their selected causes.
charities
.
By 2025, we might see
Romesh Ranganathan
Harry Judd, Alexandra Burke, Joel Dommett, and others will be participating in the 26.2-mile run starting at Greenwich Park and finishing at St. James’ Park.
Certainly, they won’t be the first celebrities to participate – but they’ll aim to steer clear of the controversies that have plagued celebrity runners at events like the London Marathon over the years.
Here are all the instances when a celebrity joined the Marathon but likely regretted finishing it at the end.
Katie Price (2018)
In 2018, Katie Price participated in the London Marathon with the aim of raising money for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis research, in support of her mother.
IPF leads to lung scarring and progressively complicates breathing, yet the origins of the condition remain unknown, along with any effective treatments.
Wearing an outfit adorned with large lung-shaped props, Katie embarked on her journey, striving to complete it within the seven-hour mark she had achieved in 2009.
The celebrity from “I’m A Celeb” sadly experienced a miscarriage during the 2009 competition, yet she continued steadfastly and completed the event with admirable determination and a commendable finish time.
Unfortunately for Katie, she had to cut short her second try at the 2018 Marathon when a knee injury occurred only six miles into the race, preventing her from completing it.
Even though Katie couldn’t reach the end, her costume did. A police officer found it and rode across the finish line with it later that afternoon.
Jade Goody (2006)
Jade Goody was among the most prominent figures in British reality television during the 2000s, making it unsurprising that she considered participating in the London Marathon.
The sole issue is that the London Marathon isn’t typically an event you decide to ‘try out’ – it demands extensive preparation and resolve to build up your fitness for the competition.
Unfortunately, Goody discovered this only after she had covered slightly more than one mile of the 26.2-mile race. She was seen limping and finding it difficult to continue, with another 25 miles remaining ahead.
Unwilling to give up, the 24-year-old Goody continued pushing forward until reaching the 18-mile point, where she suddenly fell onto the pavement. She urgently called out to the medical responders, saying she felt ‘blue’ and believed she might ‘die.’
It transpired that her diet leading up to the major event was predominantly made up of takeaway meals, and she had grown ‘tired’ of the training schedule prescribed for her.
Even though he was among the mere 700 participants who couldn’t finish the race in 2006, Goody managed to raise approximately £400 for the NSPCC (£670 adjusted value as of 2025).
Sadly, Goody passed away three years later at the young age of 27, shortly after her diagnosis with cervical cancer.
Sir Mo Farah (2018)
Among the group of top-tier runners at the 2018 London Marathon, Sir Mo Farah faced his own set of challenges, well ahead of Katie Price and her teammates.
Following his 30-minute run, Sir Mo seized a chance to replenish fluids. However, he mistakenly grabbed the wrong bottle and immediately discarded it.
Soon after, he was seen engaged in a heated argument with one of the race officials and subsequently mistakenly grabbed an additional drink bottle intended for somebody else.
He subsequently mentioned that he found the drink station to be ‘bewildering,’ whereas his agent Gary Lough stated that the bottle Sir Mo was instructed to retrieve was not located where it should have been.
‘There were two identical bottles. Some confusion arose and Mo became somewhat irritated. However, he managed to sort things out and stay in the competition.’
Sir Mo still managed to clock a respectable total time of two hours and six minutes, ultimately securing the third position. This achievement made him the first British male competitor in 33 years to make it onto the podium.
Natasha Argent (2016)
Sister to television personality James Argent and renowned in her own right, TOWIE star Natasha Argent deserved her place in the 2016 London Marathon.
Nevertheless, once the race concluded, Natasha faced swift accusations of ‘cheating’ for crossing the finish line after apparently completing the second half of the race (13.1 miles) in merely 48 minutes.
This indicates that she would have completed the final part of the race at a pace slower than four minutes per mile and finished 10 minutes quicker than the then-world record.
Once the allegations grew more severe, Natasha admitted that she experienced a panic attack halfway during the event and momentarily stepped off the track to recover.
“I continued running for about a mile before I approached a marshal,” she said.
OK!
‘I informed him that I had made a mistake and requested his assistance to return me to where I was supposed to be.’
Although the race organizers felt sorry for her circumstances, Natasha was still required to return her medal since she did not manage to finish the entire race.
Georgia Harrison (2019)
In 2019, Love Island celebrity Georgia Harrison found herself embroiled in controversy following her completion of the London Marathon precisely at the four-hour mark.
Georgia, who was 24 at the time, claimed she hadn’t done that much training, despite recording the time every amateur runner wants to achieve.
Certain social media users alleged that she had cheated, with some suggesting someone else ran wearing her race bib. However, her representatives swiftly responded, stating that Georgia was merely a ‘determined young lady’.
Afterward, Georgia admitted in a statement how minimal her preparation had been: “I hate to burst your bubble, but I’m not the one to consult about running. This month, I’ve spent most of my time intoxicated.”
‘I didn’t put in sufficient preparation. The longest distance I ran was once, but I barely made it back home by 3 AM the following day. So, avoid asking me about training routines because I hardly did anything.’
Kate Carter (2023)
Following her participation in the 2023 London Marathon, Kate Carter – who works as a commissioning editor for Runner’s World Magazine – faced an investigation within her organization after being accused of cheating.
Kate, who holds the record for running the best marathon time while wearing an animal costume, was accused by an American blogger who claimed there was no evidence she’d run the entire race.
Following the event, the leading athlete mentioned that she didn’t log an official timing during the competition but later discovered she had ‘performed better than anticipated’.
After receiving this news, Kate opted to map out a course on Strava according to her own timing — she would subsequently refer to this choice as a ‘misjudgment’.
Kate promptly rejected all accusations of misconduct and was ultimately exonerated by England Athletics. The investigation revealed ‘no intent to mislead’ and ‘no effort to gain unfairly from the outcomes’.
Being one of the most high-profile amateur runners in the country, the possibility of Kate duping race organisers was taken very seriously.
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