From the tortoises to the hares! Celebrities, including Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart, have gone the distance and completed 26.2-mile races.
After witnessing the New York City Marathon as a spectator, Reynolds decided to give it a go in 2008. Ahead of his first big race, he penned an essay for the Huffington Post, and using humor described why he chose to run.
“Every other day I train. I run like a bastard all morning. Not since the discovery of Junior High School has a torture been so effective,” he wrote in November 2008. “Why on earth would I willfully do this? Let it be known at the outset, I am not a runner. I am a running joke. Waking up at 4:30 a.m. and jogging anywhere from 11 to 23 miles has been nothing short of horrifying.”
The Green Lantern actor continued: “Although, I’ve never given birth to a professional basketball player through one of my tear ducts, I can’t imagine a worse way to start the day. Conversely, some people have real problems. I digress …”
Reynolds explained that he willingly signed up for the event after meeting Michael J. Fox and saw his “overwhelming strength” firsthand. The Canadian actor, who earned money for Parkinson’s Disease research with his run, noted that his father’s struggle with Parkinson’s Disease was also part of the push to do a marathon.
Bachelorette alum Tayshia Adams, on the other hand, chose to start running again amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 after a car accident in college left her with a pelvic injury that affected her ability to run.
She revealed in May 2021 that her initial goal was to run a half marathon for her 30th birthday, but that was put on hold when she went on the ABC dating series. After getting engaged to Zac Clark during her season, she joined him on the jogging train in January 2021. (The twosome split in November 2021, weeks after completing the NYC marathon.)
“I can’t feel my face when I’m with you🎶🥰… but for real it’s too cold pls send help!!” she joked via Instagram after running the New York Road Runners’ Virtual Resolution 5K for charity with her fiancé. “Guess it’s officially time to get back into running! First run in the city in the books!”
Scroll down to see which other famous faces have run marathons or half marathons — and find out how long it took them to finish:
