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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Mia O'Hare

Celebrities running London Marathon 2023 for incredible reasons - from cancer to Grenfell

The 2023 London Marathon is fast approaching as tens of thousands of runners are gearing up to take on the gruelling annual race.

It is expected over 40,000 people are set to take part in this year's event, along with an array of famous faces who are eager to challenge themselves.

After training and preparing for months, the running enthusiasts and a selection of celebrities will take their places at the start of the circuit on Sunday 23 April.

They will trek around the Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge, London Eye and Buckingham Palace, taking in some of the city’s most iconic landmarks en route to the finish line.

Celebrities from all walks of life including Chris Evans, Adele Roberts and Jake Quickenden are set to take part, all for a variety of reasons and causes close to their hearts.

Here, we take a look at the stars who are set to take part in the 2023 London Marathon.

Chris Evans

Radio DJ Chris Evans will take on his ninth race (Instagram)
Chris runs with his wife Tash (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Keen runner Chris has already done his fair share of London Marathons, having ran it eight times already and is set for one more.

The radio host runs alongside his wife Tash and admitted: "It’s such a focus for us, it’s the number-one thing in our social diary."

Adele Roberts

Adele was diagnosed with stage 2 bowel cancer (adeleroberts/Instagram)
Adele is running to raise money for LGBT causes (Getty Images)

Radio 1 DJ Adele is taking on the tough challenege just 18 months after undergoing life-saving bowel cancer surgery.

It will be her third London Marathon and she is determined to cross the finish line despite still being in recovery from her surgery.

She will be representing Nissan, who are championing diversity via its #PossibilitesProject, and raising money for the Attitude Magazine Foundation to help support LGBTQ+ causes.

Jake Quickenden

Jake is running for charity after losing his dad and brother (ITV)

The former The X-Factor star is raising money for Sarcoma UK in memory of his brother and father, who sadly both passed away from bone cancer within three years of each other.

Marcus Mumford

Mumford & Sons frontman Marcus is running for charity (Instagram)

Frontman of hitmakers Mumford & Sons, Marcus will be taking part in the race for Grenfell Foundation.

The singer will lace up his running shoes in an effort to raise money for the charity which supports bereaved families and survivors of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire.

Marcus is chair of the Foundation and will be joined by members of the Grenfell community.

Louise Minchin

Louise is no stranger to sport (Instagram)
It will be her first London Marathon (Getty Images Europe)

The former BBC Breakfast presenter will be running her first London Marathon, but is no stranger to endurance sport.

Louise, 54, has represented GB for her age category at the European Triathlon Championships, and ran a number of marathons and completed a 100-mile trek in the Namib Desert for Sports Relief.

Yet the TV presenter said she started training last November for the race with the Couch to 5k programme, following a knee operation.

Josh O'Connor

Josh, who plays a young King Charles in the Crown, will be running (Des Willie/Netflix)

The award winning actor starred as Prince Charles in Netflix's The Crown and is set to be running past Buckingham Palace on his way to the finish line.

Harry Judd

McFly star Harry wants to beat his previous time (Instagram)
The McFly member is now an avid runner (Mike Marsland/WireImage)

McFly drummer and Strictly winner will be switching the stage for London's streets as he takes on the Marathon.

He started running in lockdown to support his mental health and has now become a keen runner, finishing last year's race in 3:14:37.

"The marathon is like performing on stage in some ways, the start is all adrenaline and it feels great. Running is like drumming, it has a beat and a rhythm.

"I think I’ve mastered the drumming, but I’m still tackling the running. I hope to run sub-three hours one day," he said afterwards.

Sophie Raworth

Sophie has completed many marathons already (Instagram)

BBC newsreader Sophie Raworth has an impressive running history, having completed 18 marathons so far.

She only took up running 12 years ago, and this will be her 11th London Marathon to date –where she is hoping to run a personal best.

Chris Robshaw

Chris is running for his own foundation (@ChrisRobshaw/Twitter)

The former England rugby union captain is running in support of his charity, The Robshaw Kerslake Foundation, which supports young people from less privileged backgrounds to further their education and career, through music and sport.

Eve Muirhead

Eve Muirhead retired in the summer but has still been keeping busy running (Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

Winter Olympic gold medalist Eve is running to raise money for My Name'5 Doddie Foundation – a charity established by Doddie Weira and friends to raise funds to aid research into Motor Neurone Disease and support fellow sufferers.

Scott Mitchell

Scott will be running in memory of his late wife Barbara Windsor (Getty Images)

The actor and husband of the late Dame Barbara Windsor will take part in the race in memory of his late wife.

Scott will be raising money for Alzheimer’s Research UK after the actress was diagnosed with the disease in 2014.

He is the leader of Bab’s Army, which includes stars from EastEnders and The Great British Bake Off.

Scott will run through London with Lacey Turner, Heather Peace, Jake Wood, Natalie Cassidy, Tanya Franks, and Adam Woodyatt. As well as his son Sam, Jane Slaughter, Daisy Luckett, John McIntyre, and Bake Off winner Candice Brown.

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