Eddie Izzard has dropped out of his attempt to run 27 marathons in 27 days.
Last week, the British Comedian embarked on an seemingly sudden attempt to run 27 marathon in 27 days, in honour of Nelson Mandela’s 27 years prison. There was little to no media coverage of the initiative, bar a few tweets from Izzard’s twitter account.
Runner’s World tried a number of different avenues to contact the comedian, in the hope that South African runners could join him on a few legs of his initiative and assist in raising awareness (and donations) for the cause. We had no success.
Today, Izzard posted the following status on his Facebook page:
I set out to run 27 marathons in 27 days as a tribute to Nelson Mandela and his 27 years spent in prison. Having completed 4 marathons, unfortunately, I have had to put my attempt on hold due to unforeseen medical complications that have arisen due to a multitude of factors including severe terrain, humidity and altitude. But I wish to say that my attempt is not over and I will return to South Africa and run the 27 marathons and finish this story. I owe that to Nelson Mandela who has inspired the world to struggle and succeed no matter what obstacles are thrown at us.
Runner’s World editor, Mike Finch, had the following to say regarding Eddie’s statement:
Next time you in SA don’t ignore us. We know how tough it is in Africa and we’re experts in helping even runners like you achieve their goals. It’s not surprising you only lasted four marathons.
This isn’t England where you can skip merrily through shrub-lined country lanes as you pass pheasant hunters and old ladies in Morris Minors on your way to another marathon.
This is Africa man… The cradle of mankind. The birthplace of the the HTFU club where men never cry and woman do… A lot.
This is a country where our biggest race is two marathons and another five kays in one day! We don’t mess about here. We do marathons before breakfast for training so we can play 18 holes before lunch and then still drink a case of beers by sundown while watching other men beat each other up over a rugby ball without helmets, soft grassy fields and a glass of Pimms.
We know our sh*t so give us a shout next time and we’ll make sure you don’t fail. Fail is not a word here in Africa – if you fail you die. Our man Mandela taught us that.
See you soon, Eddie.
Have an opinion? Comment below!
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In South Africa you lick your wounds and run further,get a buddy to help or ask a stranger.I am sure Eddie could have ran this in Kazakstan, to interact with people that gives the spirit of Africa that gives the oomph to carry on.To fly back and try later is going to make this a futile exercise. We are the people of ubuntu next time you’re in SA try it.
I’m sure his previous feat of running 43 marathons in 51 days excuses Eddie Izzard from insinuations of being soft, wherever they were run – let’s really show our ubuntu by showing some sincere support, I’m guessing Tata Madiba would want that. Come back soon Eddie, any man who has conquered walking in women’s heels clearly already runs for HTFU.
Amen boys! Well said! Giving up is not an option here! For goodness sake, I am a girl and I ran 30km on a broken foot and got a PB in January. I licked my wounds, got in a pool, sorted my foot, and am back on my way to Comrades in 10 days. See, even the women here are tough!
“even runners like you”? “not surprising you on lasted 4 marathons”?
And then some wonderful sexism as well.
This guy -> http://6000.co.za/eddie-and-mike/ has got Mike summed up perfectly. An embarrassment to running and to SA.
This is so bad people are tweeting about it. Ouch, ouch, ouch.
The SA man macho attitude is so embarrassing. Seriously are we still in the stone age? If a guy wants to do something on his own that is his prerogative – mind your own business and try not to be so transparent in your search for publicity on the shoulders of others for your little magazine.
Hi Kyle,
As the online editor, I can’t speak for Mike’s comment – but I do know that it was written “tongue-in-cheek”.
Regarding the “search for publicity”, that was most certainly not our intention. The South African running community is extremely passionate about their sport, and we got a number of requests from readers as to whether they’d be able to run with Eddie. It was simply our intention to try and establish a link between the South African runners and Eddie; perhaps getting runners to donate a designated fee to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund in order to run a certain distance with Eddie (as this is/was his intention with his initiative).
How many South Africans actually donated to the fund because of what he was doing? If there was greater involvement with the community in which he was running, he could have had more donations to the cause.
Happy Running!
Regards,
Amy
[Online Ed]
After cycling almost 4000km in some of the most extreme terrain on earth all I can say is that there’s a lot to be said for good intentions but the reality is very different. Sometimes failure makes us stronger, sometimes it humbles us. I would like to challenge Mike to finish what Eddie started the right way…
You are very welcome any time you want to come here.