30 Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Runners

Oprah ran the Marine Corps Marathon back in 1994 in 4:29:15. In 1995, the average marathon finishing time for women was 4:15, putting Oprah at a pretty good pace.

Reynolds finished the 2008 New York City Marathon in 3:50:22 to raise money and awareness for Parkinson’s disease.

The comedian has run his share of half marathons and marathons, including Boston and New York City.

“Running a marathon is not a question of whether it will be painful, but when it will be painful,” he said after crossing the finish line of the 2003 Boston Marathon. “It does help to have a sense of humor, but I’m also respectful of the race.”

Real Housewives of New York started running when he found out he was going to be a dad for the first time, and has been logging daily miles ever since.

“It makes me feel like I can conquer anything that comes at me,” he told Runner’s World. “I’m never tapped out. I’m never tired around my two kids. I owe a lot of that to running.”

Although he ran all the time when he was younger, it became more and more difficult for Hough to find the time and energy to run as his ballroom dancing career took off. But now that he’s focusing more on other things, he has more time to log long runs.

“I feel like when I am running, it not only helps change me physically, it also improves my state of mind,” he told Runner’s World.

Ali started running to help her in the boxing ring and hasn’t stopped since. And while she’s not logging the same amount of miles now as she was then, she still regularly runs three or four miles three times a week.

“I love the way that it makes my body feel and it’s just my time for myself where I can get out there and think and let my mind go,” she told Runner’s World.

Carey started running in order to lose weight, and ended up dropping 85 pounds. He was even able to reverse his type 2 diabetes.

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“I had some friends signing up for the Tinker Bell Half Marathon. It was almost sold out, and I decided I couldn’t miss out,” she told Runner’s World.

ldquo;Since the Olympics in Beijing, I’ve havent been swimming much at all,” she told.

The This Is Us went on his first “serious” run when he turned 21.

“I woke up on my birthday and said, ‘I want to run 10 miles.’ I just wanted to see if I could run double-digit mileage,” Brown told Runner’s World.

He regularly logs four miles four to five times a week to help him “endure the craziness of everything else.”

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after reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.

“It affected me profoundly—the concept of our bodies being used for their real purpose when they’re running. I thought, ‘F—k it. I’m gonna run a marathon and raise money for the Silverlake Conservatory of Music.’”

Flea has since done races of multiple distances, saying running helps him mentally and emotionally.

The comedian started running in 2015 as a way to stay healthy and take care of his body. He’s since completed one marathon—the 2017 New York City Marathon.

“If I continue to set goals and accomplish those goals, that means I’m doing something right,” Hart told Runner’s World. “Who knows where that could take me?”

Flay ran cross country and track in high school, and he hasn’t slowed down since. He’s completed multiple marathons including New York City and London. And while he loves running for running’s sake, one of the biggest reasons the chef runs has to do with food.

“I choose the things that I want to do, and they all revolve around one thing: food,” Flay told Runner’s World. “Even my running has to do with food. I run to stay in shape so I can eat what I want.”

The singer has run two marathons—New York City in 2015 and one in Greece in 2007.

“I’m all about breaking mental boundaries, and training for a marathon falls right into the Jedi mind-training I need,” she wrote in a blog post for Refinery29.

Health & Injuries trained for basketball by running hills in his hometown of Riverside, California, when he was young, and has loved the sport ever since.

“I like trails more than roads,” Miller said. “I’ve jumped over my share of rattlesnakes. I’ve seen mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, skunks, hawks.”

After meeting elite runner Gabriele Grunewald in 2018, the Fixer Upper star decided he wanted to start running and complete a marathon.

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever put my body through, but for me, running is a mental game,” he told Runner’s World. “I’ve learned that if I can convince myself to just keep putting one foot in front of the other, then I can run as far as I want to.”

ldquo;Something happens to me when I run,” Rossi told, raising $250,000 for cancer research.

Although she’s known for being an Olympic swimmer, Coughlin started running her freshman year of college to cross-train.

“Since the Olympics in Beijing, I’ve haven't been swimming much at all,” she told Runner’s World. “Running has been my main form of exercise. I've been running five or six days a week. I love it.”

The Orange is the New Black star ran for Boston University’s track team The This Is Us went on his first “serious” run when he turned 21 And after months of training, he finished the Silo District Marathon in 5:03.

The Anne Flower Breaks Leadville 100 Course Record cast member started running in 2017 to get in better shape, and quickly decided to set her sights on the marathon distance.

“Running is something you can do and be alone in your thoughts, and I like that,” she told Runner’s World. “Maybe I’ve been a runner my whole life.”

Born to Run.

The Son’s of Anarchy actor started running in 2009 to lose weight for a role, and hasn’t stopped since.

“Something happens to me when I run,” Rossi told Runner’s World.“People think it’s crazy when I say it. All of my ideas come in when I run. That is my time where it’s just me, where I get to create.”

Stars like Alicia Keys and Chip Gaines log miles just like we do.

Riggle started running at age 19 when he joined the Marine Corps, and after a while, he grew to love it.

“It started to become what I looked forward to most; it was the only time I got to be in my own head,” he told Runner’s World.

He’s run the New York City Marathon and the Chicago Marathon.