The RACE is on!

JAMIE BORTHWICK and EMMA BARTON onrunning the London Marathon as part of an EastEnders storyline

- ALISON SLADE

 

Soap stars Jamie Borthwick and Emma Barton are no strangers to running the London Marathon, having competed in the gruelling 26.2-mile race back in 2019. But when the EastEnders actors pound the capital’s pavements for a second time this Sunday, things will be a little different.

The pair will be in character as Walford’s Jay Brown and Honey Mitchell, who are taking part in memory of Jay’s late wife, Lola (Danielle Harold). They’ll be followed by a camera crew and scenes will then be inserted into Monday night’s episode of the soap.

Jamie, 29, who’s running for Prostate Cancer UK, and Emma, 46, who’s running for BBC Children in Need, took some time out from training to tell us more… executive producer] were at an awards ceremony last year, and he planted the seed there. I did the marathon in 2019 for Scott Mitchell [husband of the late Barbara Windsor], and I swore I wouldn’t do another one because it was very painful, and my knees still haven’t really recovered. But if there was one thing that was going to get me to do it again, it was this. Me and Emma are relishing the opportunity – we get to raise money for our charities, and it’s fantastic for the show.

How is the training going?

EMMA I’ve got a regime in place, so I run four times a week and then I try to do a Pilates or weight-training session. It’s pretty exhausting; it takes up so much time, but I feel ready. But now I’ve got what they call ‘maranoia’, which I’d never heard of before. I want to wrap myself in cotton wool because I’m frightened I’m going to get a cold, overdo it, or not get enough sleep.