AS PART of Sport Relief, a documentary following comedian Eddie Izzard’s staggering marathon challenge last summer airs on BBC Three this week, a journey that took him through Oswestry and Chirk, on his way to completing 43 marathons in 51 days.
The world famous comedian and film actor arrived in Oswestry on the 13th day of his incredible challenge, having run more than 26 miles each day.
Catching up with Eddie on the outskirts of Chirk, the Advertizer joined him as he crossed the border into Wales changing the English flag he had been carrying to a Welsh one in a symbolic gesture he explained was at the heart of his chosen route.
“It started as a vague idea, but has become something of a mantra and is the reason I’m not just carrying the Union Jack,” he explains. “I tell people; we are different, we are the same, we are United Kingdom, we are Africa, we are humanity.
“I’ve been really enjoying this part of the run, you’ve got great history - being the place where Oswald was killed in battle - the scenery is beautiful and I’ve been able to watch the butterflies and the bees as a I go by, which takes my mind off running, but that’s part of it too. I could be running here, or in Africa, or in Yemen - where I was born - and still find that beauty, we’re all part of the same thing.”
While in Chirk, Eddie stopped to talk to Eileen Pritchard and her two-year-old daughter, Daisy, who had been driving past when they saw him: “The poor man looked scared stiff when I leapt out of my car like an extra off Jeremy Kyle,” laughed Eileen, of Penycae, whose daughter, Daisy, was about to undergo a second operation for a hole in her heart
“He was truly lovely. I was able to tell him all about Daisy and they filmed us for about 20 minutes. He looked genuinely devastated about Daisy’s story. I asked him to just tell people about her in the hope that it may help another child one day from suffering like she did.”
l You can still donate to Eddie’s challenge at www.sportrelief.com and the three-part documentary starts on BBC Three on Thursday.