A man dressed as a gorilla is still crawling the London marathon
It's "absolute purgatory"
Published:
Running the London Marathon on two feet is gruelling enough for most participants.
But not for one heroic man, who is crawling the 26.2 mile route. Dressed as a gorilla. And he’s still going.
Though officially known only as ‘Mr Gorilla’, the ambitious competitor has been unmasked as Tom Harrison, a Metropolitan Police officer. He took on the challenge to raise money for The Gorilla Organisation, which aims to save endangered gorillas from extinction.
You can follow Tom Harrison a great cop & a great guy @GorillaSaver . Keep going mate! ???? https://t.co/i7XAU1JicM
— Chief Insp Jack Rowlands (@earlyyearscop) April 25, 2017
In order to imitate the primate’s movements, he is crawling on his hands and feet, keeping his knees off the ground. Exhausting stuff.
Why did the gorilla cross the road? To get his Beatle on at Mile 10 #MrGorilla #VLM2017 #londonmarathoncrawl @Gorillas_Org pic.twitter.com/V680ttgqWK
— Mr Gorilla (@GorillaSaver) April 25, 2017
Four days in, Mr Gorilla is now halfway round the London Marathon route. The roads have long since reopened, but he is undeterred.
Having a rest on The Highway, between miles 13 and 14. What a Wapping challenge. But I'm over half way! #LondonMarathonCrawl #MrGorilla pic.twitter.com/7VEdyFN1NT
— Mr Gorilla (@GorillaSaver) April 26, 2017
His unusual journey is gripping the nation. Appearing on ITV’s This Morning, he said: “This isn’t really my ideal dream of a holiday, but it’s an adventure.” Part of his journey was then broadcast live.
Despite the obvious pain of the task, Mr Gorilla has been described as “lucky” by sceptics, who pointed out he has been able to stop and rest, unlike Sunday’s marathon runners.
He is lucky he goes home to sleep eat etc unlike the other runners on Sunday
— Tracey Ford (@pomlovescats) April 26, 2017
According to his Just Giving page, Mr Gorilla “practiced crawling at least twice” before the marathon, describing the challenge as “absolute purgatory.”
Will he crawl across the finish line? (Is it even still there?) Or will he go bananas before he does? Stay tuned for updates.
You can donate to Mr Gorilla’s Just Giving page here.
