Radio 1 DJ host Jamie Laing in disbelief as he raises over £2m after completing Comic Relief Ultra Marathon
Jamie Laing has raised over £2 million after completing his gruelling Comic Relief 150-mile Ultra Marathon Man challenge.
According to the BBC, Radio 1 DJ Jamie Laing has raised an impressive total of £2,007,114 for Comic Relief, to which he responded, "Are you kidding me?!... Let's go run five more!"
Sprinting the last few hundred metres, Jamie was welcomed by ecstatic crowds and ran straight into the arms of his wife Sophie Habboo. "The most euphoric thing I've ever had," he said as he crossed the line at 5pm today.
He also spoke about the immense physical and mental exhaustion he endured during the challenge, which saw him running 30 miles a day for five days. He told the BBC: “I can’t explain to you, the last kilometre was the most euphoric thing I’ve ever had...It was a really hard day today, so many ups and downs.”
Throughout the final leg of the journey, Laing was joined by fellow Radio 1 host Greg James, who participated in the challenge dressed in a wedding dress. The pair crossed the finish line in Salford this afternoon, just in time for Red Nose Day.
Laing shared a light-hearted moment during the run, saying, “Greg running with me in a wedding dress was just a bizarre moment. I took a garter off his leg at some point.”
Despite the camaraderie and support, Laing struggled both mentally and physically at several points during the marathon. “At one point I thought I was down and out. Mentally I was gone, physically I was broken. I didn’t have anything left in me,” he admitted. But something inside him pushed him forward. “I don’t know what happened, something pulled me out,” he said.
As Laing neared the finish line, he was surrounded by supporters. He said: “Then we had this last moment here and running into everyone here was just the most touching, most beautiful thing that I’ve ever experienced in my entire life.”
He continued: "For me, the big thing was just talking about mental health. It might sound cliché, but what's more important and powerful is saying 'I have anxiety,' 'I have OCD,' 'I have depression,' 'I have insomnia,' or whatever it is.
"I've never really been honest about it before. I’ve suffered, and I still do, and that’s okay. It's much braver to talk about it than to keep it hidden. This week has made me realise that talking about things is the coolest thing in the world. Being vulnerable is the greatest thing in the world. Shout it from the rooftops because that makes you brave, while hiding it only makes you weak. So don’t hide it."