Romesh Ranganathan finishes London Marathon in six hours

BAFTA award winner Romesh Ranganathan took six and a half hours to finish the 2024 London Marathon after saying his only aim was to complete the course before the roads reopened.

Speaking to BBC Sport ahead of the event, he said, “My target time is to finish while the roads are still closed. That is the aim for me, if I get that, that’s me done.”

The comedian, 46, was one of more than 50,000 people who took to the streets of the UK capital on Sunday to participate in the epic 26.3-mile race.

He took part in the marathon to raise funds for a mental health charity.

Many of those taking part raise funds for a wide range of charities while also raising awareness of the good work the institutions carry out.

Ranganathan explained why he selected the charity CALM - an acronym for Campaign Against Living Miserably - as the charity he was supporting. He has been a patron for the charity since 2023 and has opened up about his own mental health struggles in the past.

He told BBC Sport that he would be representing CALM because he has struggled with suicidal thoughts.

“I came close to taking my own life in the past and it’s something I feel strongly about in terms of mental health issues. And CALM is a really great charity for raising awareness and so it was both about raising the money and just raising the awareness of the work that they do, so that’s why I’m running,” said the comedian.

In an Instagram post ahead of the event, Ranganathan told his followers, “I said I’d never run a marathon but here I am. I’m not sure where I’d be today if I didn’t get help when I hit rock bottom. In fact, I don’t know if I’d be here at all. So, I want to help to make sure more people know about Calm’s life-saving services, as well as raising as much money as I can.”

Kenya’s Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir beat the women’s world record to win in two hours, 16 minutes, and 16 seconds. Alexander Munyao, from Kenya, won the men’s race with a time of two hours and four minutes.