For some, 42.2km stands as the pinnacle of fitness endeavours. While it might be hard to see the allure of pounding the pavement for four hours and taking down nothing but water and liquid gels for the duration of that time, the marathon remains as a bucket list item for most. Perhaps we’re all just masochists who love pain, or perhaps we simply want to push ourselves to the point of no return, in the hope that out there – wherever there may be – we dig deep, and find something in ourselves we never knew we had. Whatever your motivations for doing a marathon, know that Hollywood’s biggest stars also aren’t immune to its charms, as Colin Farrell recently demonstrated.
On June 6, Farrell stunned crowds in Brisbane by taking part in the Brisbane Marathon. The actor found himself in Australia on business; he’s now one of countless Hollywood stars walking amongst us as Australia now becomes the new Mecca for Hollywood A-listers embarking on new projects. But it seems Farrell found some time out of his busy production schedule to run a marathon and despite looking to do so under the guise of mystery, he received a hero’s welcome at the finish line as Irish flags were brandished just for the occasion.
News of Farrell’s endurance feats come courtesy of Aussie runner Pat Carroll, who was MCing the event and encouraged the crowd to get behind Farrell as he approached the end of his first-ever marathon. Carroll later posted a video of Farrell’s finish to Instagram and told NCA News Wire, “They had an Irish flag and went to cheer him on as he came across the finish line.” He added, “I was talking to his 24/7 security guard while he’s been in Australia, and I asked if we could go a bit crazy when he came down the finish line, and he said ‘okay,’ so that’s why we gave him a bit of a reception as he came down the home straight.”
It’s believed Farrell had just three months of training under his belt before taking on the marathon, and even still he finished with a highly respectable time of 3:53:14. “A lot of people get pretty excited, the place came alive,” said Carroll. “His security guard told me he’d only been running for three months in preparation, so it’s not a bad effort…and he did finish running, and he looked good as he came down the line.”
For most runners, it’s advised to take 12 to 20 weeks for your marathon training, given that the distance puts you at a significantly higher risk of overuse injury. Though conventional wisdom recommends that aspiring marathon runners log a consistent base mileage for at least a year before embarking on a training program, you can build a base within four to six months.
Farrell’s next project is the Ron Howard-directed Thirteen Lives, which has been filmed in Queensland. The film is said to be a fictionalised retelling of a young football team who were trapped in, and rescued from, the Tham Luang caves in Thailand in 2018. Though a release date is yet to be announced, who knows – you might just see Farrell powering down the finish line of an Aussie marathon event before you do on screen.
