Stars of entertainment and sport prepare for the 26.2-mile challenge
Celebrities from the worlds of film, music, TV and sport are taking on the challenge of the 2023 TCS London Marathon on Sunday 23 April.
Among the well-known faces from the world of entertainment is Marcus Mumford, frontman of Grammy and Brit Award-winning band Mumford & Sons.
Mumford will be running for the Grenfell Foundation, a charity supporting bereaved families and survivors of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire and the local community. Mumford, who is chair of the Foundation, will be joined on Marathon Day by members of the Grenfell community – with some running with him in memory of loved ones who died in the tragedy and others attending in support.
Marcus Mumford
Joining Mumford on the Start Line will be Golden Globe-winning actor Josh O’Connor, who played Prince Charles in the Netflix series The Crown. O’Connor will pass his on-screen home of Buckingham Palace on his way to the famous Finish Line of the TCS London Marathon on The Mall.
Eve Muirhead OBE, the former skip of Team GB’s women’s curling team and reigning Winter Olympic gold medallist, leads a field of British sports stars making their TCS London Marathon debuts next month.
Muirhead, who came third in the 2022 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards, will be joined by 2016 Paralympic gold medal-winning rower Grace Clough MBE and former British track athlete Perri Shakes-Drayton. Londoner Shakes-Drayton is running in support of Tommy’s the pregnancy charity.
Rugby union royalty will also be lining up, as former England captain Chris Robshaw and top scorer in Premiership history Charlie Hodgson prepare to swap studded boots for trainers for their first TCS London Marathon. Robshaw is running in support of his charity The Robshaw Kerslake Foundation, while Hodgson is raising funds for Muscular Dystrophy UK.
EastEnders actors past and present will take on the 2023 TCS London Marathon in memory of Dame Barbara Windsor, raising money and awareness for Alzheimer’s Research UK.
The team have dubbed themselves ‘Bab’s Army’ and will be led by Barbara’s husband Scott Mitchell, with Lacey Turner, Heather Pearce, Jake Wood, Natalie Cassidy, Tanya Franks and Adam Woodyatt completing the EastEnders team. Also joining the team is 2016 Great British Bake Off winner Candice Brown.
Other celebrities taking part include TV personality Jake Quickenden – the former The X-Factor contestant is raising money for Sarcoma UK in memory of his brother Oliver, who died of a bone cancer aged 18. Meanwhile, sisters Tilly and Megan Ramsay will follow chef dad Gordon’s footsteps by running their first TCS London Marathon for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH), the official 2023 TCS London Marathon Charity of the Year.
The full list of famous faces preparing to take part on Sunday 23 April:
- Grace Clough MBE – former Paralympic rowing gold medallist
- Josh Cuthbert – musician and influencer
- Alex Dowsett – former pro cyclist
- Chris Evans – radio presenter
- Charlie Hodgson – former England rugby union international
- Charlotte Jane – musician
- Harry Judd – musician
- Camilla Kerslake – musician
- Danny Mills – pundit and former England footballer
- Louise Minchin – television presenter
- Eve Muirhead OBE – former GB curling skip and Olympic curling gold medallist
- Marcus Mumford – musician
- Josh O’Connor – actor
- Joff Oddie – musician
- Monica Puig – 2016 Olympic tennis champion
- Jake Quickenden – TV personality
- Tilly Ramsay – influencer and TV personality
- Sophie Raworth – BBC News presenter
- Adele Roberts – radio presenter
- Chris Robshaw – former England rugby union captain
- Perri Shakes-Drayton – former GB track athlete
- Richard Whitehead – former Paralympic athletics gold medallist