Who isn’t inspired by watching a marathon — or running one? The grit required to take on this 26.2-mile challenge is remarkable, whether you’re an elite athlete aiming to lead the pack or an ordinary person determined to complete the course however long it takes.
This helps explain why marathoning has been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic, with participation increasing by 5 percent, according to some estimates.
Celebrities are also feeling drawn to compete. Whether chasing a personal best, supporting a cause, or checking off a goal on their bucket list — or all three — stars like Harry Styles and Cythia Erivo are going the distance.
Harry Styles
Pop superstar Harry Styles officially began his marathon journey in 2025, but he already boasts impressive running stats, with a 3:24:07 finish in Tokyo, then a 2:59:13 finish in Berlin just six months later — a massive improvement that put him in sub-3 territory.
In an interview with
Runner’s World, Styles cited the novel
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Japanese author and marathoner Haruki Murakami as an inspiration to take on the challenge.
“If you want to run a marathon, it takes a lot of discipline. You can’t go too fast too quickly,” Styles said.
Styles also drew a parallel between marathoning and music. “When you’re training for a marathon, which is the loneliest part, you just kind of set out for a run, and three hours later you come back. But there’s a real synergy between that and electronic music. It’s kind of hypnotic and becomes like a mantra almost.”
Styles was already in
top physical condition prior to taking up marathoning. Speaking to
The Independent in 2025, personal trainer Thibo David said that in advance of Styles’ Love on Tours show in 2021 the two men would meet regularly for 12-mile runs and two-hour gym sessions including 20-minute conditioning protocols inspired by David’s background in mixed martial arts (MMA).
Cynthia Erivo
Wicked star Cynthia Erivo knocked out an impressive 3:35:36 finish at the 2022 London Marathon — and she’s not stopping there, with plans to take on the 2026 London Marathon in late April.
Erivo is considerably faster than she was 10 years ago, when she ran the New York City Marathon in 3:57:07.
Erivo recently shared her structured training schedule with
Women’s Health:
- Monday: a short, quick “shake-out” run or hour on a bike “just to get my legs turned over”
- Tuesday: a longish run at a relaxed pace
- Wednesday: “Fartlek” sessions combining “comfortably hard” running with short, intense bursts of speed
- Thursday: another longish run (possibly 10 or 11 miles)
- Friday: a shorter run (about 6 miles)
- Saturday: another longish run
- Sunday: a long run, anywhere from a half marathon to 20 or so miles
Erivo also prioritizes intentional rest and nutrition to help keep herself marathon-ready. She described herself to Women’s Health as “like a little squirrel” fueling herself with nuts, protein bars, gels, water, vitamins (including a multivitamin, vitamin D, B12, and magnesium), and electrolytes.
Colin Farrell
When Colin Farrell ran the Dublin Marathon in 2024, it wasn’t about pace — it was about purpose.
The renowned actor pushed a friend in a wheelchair for the final miles to raise funds and awareness around the incurable genetic condition epidermolysis bullosa (EB) — turning his 4:06:45 finish time into an especially memorable act.
“That run was nothing compared to the pain she is forced to endure every single day, even though she doesn’t show it,” Farrell told U.K. news agency PA Media. “It was an honor to see her waiting for me with 4 kilometers to go, each of those representing a decade of her life, and to do the final stretch together. I’ll never forget it.”
Farrell has also run the 2021 Brisbane Marathon, clocking in at 3:53:14.
Jennifer Connelly
Actress and Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly laced up in 2024 at the New York City Marathon, coming in at an impressive 3:45:47.
That sub-4 performance places her well ahead of the average recreational runner — suggesting serious starting line preparation, even while balancing a demanding acting career.
Post-race, Connelly took to social media with a hat tip to supporters, thanking “the incredible crowd that supported us all the way” along with friends, family, volunteers, and organizers who made the race possible.
She gave a special shout-out to Fred’s Team, the official charity running program for New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which has raised over $131 million dollars for
cancer research.
Randall Park
Actor and comedian Randall Park, best known for his role in the sitcom
Fresh Off the Boat, joined the marathon ranks when he ran the 2024 New York City Marathon — clocking a finish time of 4:16.
Just before his first 26.2, Park revealed to GQ what his biggest training challenge was — along with his motivation to train for his first marathon at age 50.
“It was about changing my mindset by challenging myself incrementally, and conquering those little challenges,” Park said. “I've gotten a lot more into fitness in general, particularly with my father passing away and seeing his decline. It’s really made me think about my daughter and how I want to be there for her as long as possible and I want to be as healthy as possible.”
Ashton Kutcher
In 2022 actor Ashton Kutcher revealed he’d been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called vasculitis that incapacitated him. “Like two years ago, I had this weird, super rare form of vasculitis, that knocked out my vision, it knocked out my hearing, it knocked out like all my equilibrium,” Kutcher revealed on an episode of National Geographic’s
Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge. “It took me like a year to build it all back up.”
Build it up he did, and then some: He not only ran his first marathon, the 2022 New York City marathon, but he completed it in under four hours.
As notable as his 3:54:01 finish time was his partnership other runners to raise more than $1 million for his tech-focused nonprofit Thorn, dedicated to defending children from sexual abuse.
In an interview with
GQ days before the race, Kutcher offered this advice to people interested in joining the ranks of marathon runners: “It's just one step at a time. Running is just a controlled fall. That’s it,” he said.
Kevin Hart
Marathons aren’t a new challenge for comedian-actor Kevin Hart. He finished his first race in New York City back in 2017, clocking in at 4:05:06. The next year, Hart checked another 26.2 off his list — crossing the finish line at the 2018 Chicago Marathon at 4:13.
“I am doing this to be an example that you can be anything that you put your mind to. I put my mind to it, and I am going to get it done. That simple,” he said.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is a celebrity marathoning legend. The former talk show host and media mogul made headlines with her 4:29:15 finish at the 1994 Marine Corps Marathon, a time that became iconic in running culture.
In later reflections on the marathon-running journey, Oprah has embraced a simple — yet powerful — philosophy, and has been quoted as referring to forms of exercise as “a great metaphor for life.”
Oprah’s run helped demystify distance running for people across the country, inspiring a generation of first-time marathoners who related to her everywoman quest for health and wellness.
Natalie Dormer
Known for her role as Margaery Tyrell in the
HBO series
Game of Thrones, actress Natalie Dormer finished the 2014 London Marathon in an impressive 3:50:27.
That sub-4 finish puts her among the faster celebrity runners — and reflects serious training behind the scenes.
Dormer showed up at the London Marathon again in 2016, coming in just shy of her previous finish time. Speaking to UK news outlet The Guardian at the time, Dormer underscored the importance of having a support system during those tough training moments.
“Your support network when you train for a marathon has to be sympathetic. Your friends and family — they are doing it with you. So whenever someone tells you that they are going to do it, give them as much encouragement as possible and then give the people in their life as much encouragement as possible, because I know it’s really hard on the other people in the house as well,” Dormer said.
Alicia Keys
R&B singer Alicia Keys took on the New York City marathon in 2015, finishing in 5:50:52, and embracing the mental challenge as much as the physical one.
In a Refinery29 blog at the time, Keys noted what kept her inspired during the race.
“What got me through was seeing incredible runners with prosthetic legs, or a man leading a blind runner, or an older woman walking with a cane to make it. These were the surges of strength that I needed,” Keys said. “And the reminder that my mind is strong, even stronger than my body — the most intimate example of mind over matter.”
Carl Radke
Television personality and Summer House star Carl Radke crossed the 2025 New York City Marathon finish line in 4:04:25 — and this milestone marked more than a fitness achievement.
For Radke, the race is part of a broader wellness goal, as the star has been open on social media and in the public sphere about how running fits into his sobriety journey focused on health and accountability.
"I kind of crave the runner’s high," Radke said in an interview at the time with the
Zac Clark Show podcast. “I used to crave other highs back in the day. But this one, especially, there’s something about, I don’t know ... I feel like I’m confident, more confident, I’m more happier. And I don’t always feel that way pre-run.”
Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell may be known for comedy, but his marathon performance — 3:56:12 at the 2003 Boston Marathon — was no joke.
He told media outlets at the time, “Running marathons is not a question of whether it will be painful, but when it will be painful. It does help to have a sense of humor, but I’m also respectful of the race.”
Ferrell still runs — proving he’s as committed to endurance as he is to entertainment.
