2019 VIRGIN MONEY LONDON MARATHON CELEBRITIES€¦ · Brazil ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics after she had completed a 3,000-mile bike ride from the London Olympic Stadium to Rio de

2019 VIRGIN MONEYLONDON MARATHONCELEBRITIES

Scroll down for full biographies

Abdullah Afzal

Sam Attwater

Saffron Barker

Emma Barton

Matt Brammeier

Nikki Brammeier

Marcus Bean

Jamie Borthwick

Candice Brown

Natalie Cassidy

Katie Chapman

Rob Deering

Chris Evans

Jenni Falconer

Tanya Franks

Kirsty Gallacher

Ed Gamble

Paul Konchesky

Saffron Lempriere

Hannah MacLeod

Amelie Mauresmo

Nell McAndrew

Scott Mitchell

Chris Newton

Leon Ockenden

Jamie Peacock MBE

Jonathan Pearce

Dani Rowe

Keith Senior

Kellie Shirley

Helen Skelton

Jane Slaughter

Cel Spellman

Paul Tonkinson

Jake Wood

Adam Woodyatt

Charlie Webster

Laura Wright

Mark Wright

document date: 12 March 2019version: 1.0

Abdullah is an actor and stand-up comedian who has portrayed the character of Amjad Malik in BBC One’s Citizen Khan since 2012. He landed the role after playing Asif Khan in the BBC3 sitcom Lunch Monkeys.

Sam played Leon Small in the BBC One’s soap EastEnders and its online spin-off EastEnders: E20 and also won the sixth series of Dancing on Ice in 2011. He has also appeared in numerous West End productions including Dreamboats & Petticoats and The Rocky Horror Show.

Saffron is a YouTuber known for her lifestyle, beauty, fashion and challenge vlogs. She has amassed four million followers across YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.

Charity: The Children’s Trust

Charity: Dementia Revolution

Emma is one of eight EastEnders stars who are running the 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon for Dementia Revolution to support their former colleague Dame Barbara Windsor. Emma has played Honey Mitchell in the show since 2005.


EMMA B A R T O N

ABDULLLAH A F Z A L

SAM ATTWATER

SAFFRON B A R K E R

Charity: Penny Appeal

Matt is a former professional cyclist who won the Irish national road race title on four occasions. Matt rode professionally for 12 years and was part of three UCI WorldTour teams before retiring last year. He is now the lead coach of British Cycling’s under-23 academy and the elite men’s national squad manager at major competitions.

Nikki – the wife of Matt – is another talented cyclist who is a multiple British champion in cyclo-cross and mountain bike disciplines. She is also a talented rider on the roads and has been a member of the dominant women’s road team Boels-Dolmans since 2016.

Marcus has been one of the UK’s most popular celebrity chefs since he won Iron Chef UK on Channel 4 in 2010. After winning Iron Chef UK, Marcus went on to become a regular chef on ITV’s This Morning. He has also appeared on Good Food’s Market Kitchen, Channel 4’s What’s Cooking and Drop Down Menu.

Charity: Headway Charity: Headway

Charity: Teens Unite Fighting Cancer

Jamie is part of the EastEnders cast taking on the 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon for Dementia Revolution. Jamie has been playing the role of Jay Brown since 2006.


JAMIE BORTHWICK

MATTBRAMMEIER

NIKKIBRAMMEIER

MARCUS B E A N

Candice was the winner of The Great British Bake Off 2016 and a contestant on Dancing on Ice 2018. The former teacher now combines running her own pub with regular TV and food show appearances and writing cookbooks.

Natalie is one of the most recognisable members of the EastEnders teamrunning for Dementia Revolution. She has played the role of Sonia Jackson since she was a schoolgirl. Natalie has also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Big Brother.

Katie is a former England international footballer who won 96 caps for her country during a 16-year career. She had an illustrious club career for Millwall, Fulham, Charlton, Arsenal, Chicago Red Stars and Chelsea.

Charity: Dementia Revolution Charity: Dementia Revolution

Charity: Plan International UK Rob is a popular comedian and running podcaster. He was the host and writer of Out to Lunch on BBC Radio 2 and has hosted 99 Things to Do Before You Die on Channel 5. He has also won celebrity editions of The Weakest Link and Celebrity Mastermind. Rob hosts a podcast alongside fellow comedian and runner Paul Tonkinson called Running Commentary.

ROBDEERING

CANDICEBROWN

NATALIECASSIDY

KATIE CHAPMAN

Chris is one of the UK’s most famous presenters and has just returned to Virgin Radio to present the station’s breakfast show. Previously he presented The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2. He shot to fame in the 1990s as the host of Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast and then TFI Friday.

Jenni is a television and radio presenter who currently presents her own show on Heart FM. She is well known to TV audiences thanks to her presenting roles on GMTV, This Morning and The National Lottery.

Tanya plays the role of Rainie Cross in EastEnders. She has acted in a number of other high-profile television shows including Pulling and Broadchurch. Tanya has also appeared in leading roles at The National Theatre.

Charity: Dementia Revolution Charity: The Children’s Trust


Kirsty is a sports and news presenter who enjoyed a successful 20-year career at Sky Sports News, anchoring their flagship show as well as fronting Sky Sports’ coverage of major annual sporting events including The Ryder Cup and The Masters. She now hosts her own Classic FM show.

Charity: Safe Hands

KIRSTY GALLACHER

CHRISEVANS

JENNIFALCONER

TANYA FRANKS

Ed is a stand-up comedian who is best known for co-presenting The Peacock and Gamble Podcast and for regular appearances on Mock the Week.

Paul is a former Premier League footballer who won two caps for England. The left-back played top-flight football for Charlton, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, Fulham, Liverpool and Leicester City during a lengthy professional career.

Saffron is one of the recent additions to the hit reality TV show The Only Way is Essex.

Charity: JDRF Charity: Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity

Charity: Children with Cancer UK

Hannah was part of the Great Britain hockey team which won a famous gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics. This capped a fabulous 12-year international career for Hannah during which she amassed 150 caps for Great Britain and England.

Charity: Beat Eating Disorders

HANNAH MACLEOD

EDGAMBLE

PAULKONCHESKY

SAFFRON LEMPRIERE

Amelie is a former world number one tennis player and two-time Grand Slam winner with victories at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. She won a total of 25 tournaments on the WTA Tour before she turned to coaching after retirement. She became Andy Murray’s coach in 2014 – a role she held for two years.

Nell is a model and TV personality who is also one of the quickest female celebrities to have ever run the London Marathon. Her personal best (PB) time of 2:54:39 was set in 2012.

Scott Mitchell is the husband of Dame Barbara Windsor. Scott works in the entertainment business including casting and artist management. He is running his first Virgin Money London Marathon on the day of his 56th birthday in order to raise awareness of dementia and to help raise vital funding needed for research.

Charity: Dementia Revolution, Cancer Research UK, Caudwell Children


Chris is a multiple world track cycling champion and triple Olympic medallist. Chris won a bronze medal in the team pursuit at the 2000 Olympic Games and a silver medal in the same discipline at the 2004 Olympics. At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Chris competed solo and won a bronze medal in the points race.

Charity: Anthony Nolan

CHRIS NEWTON

AMELIE MAURESMO

NELL MCANDREW

SCOTT MITCHELL

Leon is an actor who has appeared in a string of hit shows including Waterloo Road and Mr Selfridge. In 2016, he took on the role of Will Chatterton in Coronation Street.

Jamie is a former Rugby League star who played for Leeds Rhinos and Bradford Bulls in the Super League and captained both Great Britain and England at international level. He won a total of nine Super League titles and four Challenge Cups during a glittering career.

Jonathan has got one of the most recognisable voices in football. He has been part of the BBC Match of the Day commentary team since 2004. Before that Jonathan made his name on radio as part of Capital Gold Sport. Away from football, Jonathan has also provided the commentary for Robot Wars.

Charity: Softbones Charity: Sue Ryder

Charity: The Lily Foundation

LEON OCKENDEN

JAMIEPEACOCK MBE

JONATHAN PEARCE

Dani is a former professional cyclist who won three world titles and an Olympic gold medal on the track in the team pursuit at the 2012 London Olympics. She focused on road racing after the London Olympics and had her best ever season last year when she won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games and was third in The Women’s Tour.

Charity: Great Ormond Street Hospital

DANIROWE

Keith is widely regarded as one of the finest rugby league players of the Super League era. During a glittering career, he won every honour in the British domestic game, representing Sheffield Eagles and then Leeds Rhinos. He represented both Great Britain and England at international level.

Kellie is a former EastEnders actor who will be joining her ex-cast members to run the Virgin Money London Marathon for Dementia Revolution. She played Carly Wicks in the BBC soap. Recently she has starred in The Long Run with Idris Elba.

Charity: The Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust


Helen is a TV presenter who started her career on Blue Peter where she stayed from 2008 until 2013. She ran her first London Marathon while at Blue Peter in 2009 and then ran again in 2014 and in between has been part of the BBC presenting team at the London Marathon and at the Olympic Games.

HELEN SKELTON

KEITHSENIOR

KELLIE SHIRLEY

Charity: Prostate Cancer UK

Jane is the longest serving female member of the EastEnders cast having played ‘Tracy the barmaid’ since 1985. She worked closely with Dame Barbara Windsor in scenes shot in The Queen Vic and will be running to support her friend for the Dementia Revolution.


JANE SLAUGHTER

Cel is the host of his own BBC Radio 1 show which airs every Sunday afternoon and is also a well-known actor who has appeared in the BBC Two mockumentary The Cup and BBC One drama Waterloo Road.

Stand-up comedian and DJ Paul is a runnerholic and hosts his own podcast, the Running Commentary, alongside friend and fellow marathon runner Rob Deering. Paul is a regular guest on TV comedy panel shows and he was the first breakfast show presenter of Xfm Manchester before taking over the drivetime slot.

Charity: WWF

Jake has played the part of Max Branning in EastEnders since 2006. Away from Albert Square, he reached the semi-finals of the 2014 edition of Strictly Come Dancing and appeared in the Christmas special in 2018.

JAKEWOOD

CELSPELLMAN

PAUL TONKINSON


Adam is the longest-serving EastEnders cast member having played the part of Ian Beale since the soap first aired on BBC One in 1985. He will be returning to the Virgin Money London Marathon for the second time, having made his debut in 2017.


ADAM WOODYATT

Charlie is a leading sports presenter who has worked for Sky Sports, Channel 4 and ITV on sports ranging from football to cycling and speedway to boxing. Charlie recovered after contracting malaria in Brazil ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics after she had completed a 3,000-mile bike ride from the London Olympic Stadium to Rio de Janeiro.

The English Soprano is a popular classical singer. She regularly performs at major sporting events and in 2016, she wrote ‘Heroes’ the first official anthem of the England Women’s Cricket team. This is her second London Marathon.

Australian-born Mark Wright was the winner of the 10th series of The Apprentice and won £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar. He used the money to start his SEO company Climb Online.

MARKWRIGHT

CHARLIE WEBSTER

LAURAWRIGHT


Charity: David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

Documents

2019 VIRGIN MONEY LONDON MARATHON CELEBRITIES€¦ · Brazil ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics after she had completed a 3,000-mile bike ride from the London Olympic Stadium to Rio de