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Last summer, Eddie Izzard, then 47, kicked off Sport Relief 2010 in the most spectacular and incredible fashion, starting on the mother of all challenges - to complete 43 marathons in 51 days.

The flamboyant and popular Izzard had trained for only five weeks prior to setting off from Trafalgar Square in central London, running through England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, before arriving back where he started seven weeks later on 15 September, to a deserved rapturous welcome.

To date, Izzard has raised more than £300,000 for Sport Relief.

"People were handing over money over as I ran by," Izzard told the Radio Times magazine.

"Lorry drivers were passing £5 notes out of dump-truck windows. I had an ice-cream van playing Chariots of Fire. After it had been going on a while, people got to know I was coming, and were waiting."

Izzard was rewarded for his remarkable efforts with a special award at the