Eddie Izzard: Marathon Man

Highlights of Eddie Izzard's ultimate human endurance challenge for Sport Relief, running 43 marathons in 51 days around the UK. Covering 1,166 brutal miles, he ran a marathon a day, six days a week, for eight weeks. Professional athletes would seriously struggle with this task, but for Eddie, an out of shape 47-year-old comedian, it seemed impossible. He had never run a timed marathon before and gives himself just over five weeks to train. Trailed by his very own bespoke ice cream van, Eddie encourages the nation to donate to Sport Relief and run with him, and meets the weird and wonderful British public in the most unlikely of places. Followed by a small support team and a film crew on a motorised rickshaw, every mile of his challenge is recorded, and they are with him when the physical and mental strains of completing consecutive marathons start to show. Riddled with blisters and injuries, only fierce determination carries him on. But in the pursuit of completing a challenge many deemed impossible, he has to struggle against severe weather, dangerous roads and an unforgiving terrain. Is this a heroic feat for Sport Relief, or the deranged scheme of a madcap comedian? This is the incredible story of a transvestite comedian rising to one of the most astonishing challenges in Sport Relief's history, and in doing so achieving something truly extraordinary and utterly inspirational.

Eddie Izzard pushes his body and sense of humour to the limit for Sport Relief as he attempts to run 27 marathons in 27 days, marking the 27 years Nelson Mandela spent in prison.